Overturning default custody judgment

[evaderci]

CA:

I was granted, by default judgment, sole/legal physical custody of my 5yr old daughter. The biological father has not made any real attempt in four years to stay in contact. He lives out of state. He appeared out of the blue, in California, to object to my changing my daughter's name to have a middle name. I changed her last name LEGALLY to my last name 4 years ago in the state of TN. I then had her NY birth certificate amended to show that change.

1) How possible is it for him to overturn the custody judgment?;
2) I did not know his whereabouts in '06 when I got the order for her last name change -- how possible is it for him to appeal that ruling?
3) I want to terminate his parental rights to prevent him from popping up like this. He has never paid support and hasn't seen his daughter in years. In my opinion, he's just pissed that he can't "brand" his name on his offspring.

 

[WittyUserName]

CA:

I was granted, by default judgment, sole/legal physical custody of my 5yr old daughter. The biological father has not made any real attempt in four years to stay in contact. He lives out of state. He appeared out of the blue, in California, to object to my changing my daughter's name to have a middle name. I changed her last name LEGALLY to my last name 4 years ago in the state of TN. I then had her NY birth certificate amended to show that change.

1) How possible is it for him to overturn the custody judgment?;
2) I did not know his whereabouts in '06 when I got the order for her last name change -- how possible is it for him to appeal that ruling?
3) I want to terminate his parental rights to prevent him from popping up like this. He has never paid support and hasn't seen his daughter in years. In my opinion, he's just pissed that he can't "brand" his name on his offspring.

1 - Did he file for custody?
2 - He can appeal anything he wants. Doesn't mean it'll go anywhere, but he can try.
3 - Is there a court order for support? And what are you trying to accomplish with a TPR? You already have sole legal and physical custody. Your opinion won't be reason enough - you'll need an actual legally viable reason.

 

[birdbrain53]

HI

I'm in CA.

Dad can file anything he wants. He most likely won't get anywhere though because he's been MIA for most of her life.

Is he just now complaining about the last name change or just the middle name?

What a maroon.

 

[Ohiogal]

CA:

I was granted, by default judgment, sole/legal physical custody of my 5yr old daughter. The biological father has not made any real attempt in four years to stay in contact. He lives out of state. He appeared out of the blue, in California, to object to my changing my daughter's name to have a middle name. I changed her last name LEGALLY to my last name 4 years ago in the state of TN. I then had her NY birth certificate amended to show that change.

1) How possible is it for him to overturn the custody judgment?;
2) I did not know his whereabouts in '06 when I got the order for her last name change -- how possible is it for him to appeal that ruling?
3) I want to terminate his parental rights to prevent him from popping up like this. He has never paid support and hasn't seen his daughter in years. In my opinion, he's just pissed that he can't "brand" his name on his offspring.

Did you ever serve father regarding any of the court hearings concerning his child?

 

[acmb05]

HI

I'm in CA.

Dad can file anything he wants. He most likely won't get anywhere though because he's been MIA for most of her life.

From the post it looks as though mom has moved a number of times since the child was born. Since you have no idea if the father even knew where the child was at any given time you can't say he won't get anywhere with this.

Is he just now complaining about the last name change or just the middle name?

What a maroon.

Again if dad did not know where the child was or was not notified properly about the name change how could he have possibly objected to it before?

 

[mistoffolees]

1) How possible is it for him to overturn the custody judgment?;
2) I did not know his whereabouts in '06 when I got the order for her last name change -- how possible is it for him to appeal that ruling?

#2 answers #1. You didn't serve him, so a default judgment can quite easily be overturned. IF you can demonstrate that you followed all the rules for service by publication, you might be able to make the judgment stick, but he certainly has grounds to ask for it to be overturned.

3) I want to terminate his parental rights to prevent him from popping up like this. He has never paid support and hasn't seen his daughter in years. In my opinion, he's just pissed that he can't "brand" his name on his offspring.

Is there a court order for support?

And have you always made your address known to him?

I'm always suspicious about cases like this. If you had run from the state and not told him where you were, the results would be the same - but the blame would be on you, not him. So please answer the above 2 questions.