[Dore]

My daughter is 6 1/2 and I want to terminate her b-fathers rights. I do not have a man to take his place and do not want any other man to have rights to my child I have been a single parent for 5 years and am constantly irritated that I can not change my daughters last name to mine and I also can't take her to see extended family because I can not get her passport with out consent of b-father. He has not seen her since she was 3 and even then it was supervised by me. I have no earthly idea where this man is and even the attorney general now can not find him. Oh yeah I forgot to mention he has gotten a citation for hitting my daughter when she was 2 years old and just last year I found out through mutual friend he got refered ajudication for abusing girlfriends 5 year old son.
Does anyone know if I can terminate his rights without his consent. I am student and have no money to hire lawyer.

[Newsie]

Hi Dore,

Is he actually listed on your daughters birth certificate as the father?

Does your college have a free attorney service for students? Some do so I'd check that out...

[rindava]

got the child abuse charges on the boy....

each locality also should have some abuse hotline, or something...maybe even try the national hot line (1-800 4 a child...it is free no cost) and ask them...you locality may have an abuse hotline, etc....that can help, also legal aide...

you may even get DSS to help, but they usually go looking for child support....

usually he has to be convicted of severe abuse to a child or volunteer his rights over....

[scandi]

I know of a young woman who recently was able to get the birth father to reliqunish his rights in exchange for her dropping all of the child support he owed. She then filed a petition in court with her husband for him to adopt her daughter. Check with your states rules and laws. I would think as a college student you may even be able to get some no cost legal advice.


You may also be able to file the petition on your own without an attorney and when you get a court hearing you can request that the Judge order that a publication notice be placed in the paper covering his last known address. In my state once publication is made and there is still no response from the parent the court can proceed for a default order and terminate the parental rights. Have all of your information for the Judge on why you want this to happen and put as much of it in the petition as you can - not just you want to change the last name. The more info you have the better off you should be.

[aray]

Since you can't find him, I'm assuming you are not getting child support....right? This is also grounds for termination. You should be able to call an attorney and get free consultation. Look in your phonebook and look for a family lawyer and go from there. Explain your situation, and your financial situation, some are more than willing to make arrangements that would work for both of you, for example just even an agreement of a very low monthly payment ($50) could be a start. You need to protect yourself and your daughter, and there are always those out there who are more than willing to help out as much as they can.....Can your family help financially?