Termination of Parental rights

[Confused In ILL]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ILLINOIS

My daughter is now 4 years old. Her father, who is not on the birth certificate, has seen her 3 times during her first year. He has had no contact over the past 3 years until recently he has been threatning to take me to court. Can this be done? Can I terminate his rights? PLEASE HELP!

 

[cyjeff]

He can go to court and request visitation if paternity has been legally established.

No, he won't take your child from you... but he may get started down the road of proper visitation scheduling.

 

[Confused In ILL]

Legally paternity has not been established. The first time he saw her he put a cotton swab in her mouth and claimed it was from a kit he ordered off the internet. He claims it came back positive but I never got any confirmation of that even tho I know he is the father. This doesn't count does it?

 

[Ohiogal]

Legally paternity has not been established. The first time he saw her he put a cotton swab in her mouth and claimed it was from a kit he ordered off the internet. He claims it came back positive but I never got any confirmation of that even tho I know he is the father. This doesn't count does it?

You may believe he is the father but you won't know until you have paternity established.

 

[SopranoKris]

Legally paternity has not been established. The first time he saw her he put a cotton swab in her mouth and claimed it was from a kit he ordered off the internet. He claims it came back positive but I never got any confirmation of that even tho I know he is the father. This doesn't count does it?

No, a test like that doesn't "count". However, he can file to legally have a DNA test ordered to establish paternity. If he's the father, he can then file for visitation. If he's the father, you can also file for child support. Just keep in mind that visitation & child support are completely SEPARATE matters.

Neither you nor he can just have him sign away his rights. Your child isn't a car or other inanimate object that can be dealt with like this. The only way he could ever relinquish his rights is if you were in a stable marriage and the husband was willing to adopt and your child's father is willing to allow it. But let me tell you now, it's better to accept the fact that your ex boyfriend is the father and allow your child to get to know him. Don't make this an adversarial situation. The more you two play tug of war with your kid, the harder it is on the child.

 

[Confused In ILL]

He can still do that even if he has had no contact with her in 3 years? From what I have been told abandonment is 6 months or more. Isn't this what he has done? All the legal stuff is pretty confusing to me. Any help and advice is great!

 

[CourtClerk]

At this point, he doesn't even HAVE a child to have abandoned.

 

[AHA]

He can still do that even if he has had no contact with her in 3 years? From what I have been told abandonment is 6 months or more. Isn't this what he has done? All the legal stuff is pretty confusing to me. Any help and advice is great!

He nees to be determined the legal father in order to abandon the child.