Can I terminate rights??

[lana101]

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

Hi I live in iowa, I have a lawyer (but I don't think he is very good it family law) but before I find some one else i would like to know if a few things are true?
so here is my story ( in a nut shell) my son is two years old ( i have had him independently for the last year and a half) his bio dad has been arrested and found with drugs, also has a founded child abuse on his record because he tried "kidnapping" him from me and broke my arm in the processes, yes there is a no contact order between us ( but not for my son) he has seen him about 8 times with supervised visits( the visits are done by a dhs agency ) in the last year and a half . He dose not pay child support never has, there isn't even a order out there! we have a custody hearing coming up march 2015, can I ask the judge to terminate his rights? and what are my chances of a judge saying yes?

 

[Ohiogal]

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

Hi I live in iowa, I have a lawyer (but I don't think he is very good it family law) but before I find some one else i would like to know if a few things are true?
so here is my story ( in a nut shell) my son is two years old ( i have had him independently for the last year and a half) his bio dad has been arrested and found with drugs, also has a founded child abuse on his record because he tried "kidnapping" him from me and broke my arm in the processes, yes there is a no contact order between us ( but not for my son) he has seen him about 8 times with supervised visits( the visits are done by a dhs agency ) in the last year and a half . He dose not pay child support never has, there isn't even a order out there! we have a custody hearing coming up march 2015, can I ask the judge to terminate his rights? and what are my chances of a judge saying yes?

You are not going to get dad's rights terminated. He has seen his child. He doesn't have to pay support without a court order.

 

[stealth2]

can I ask the judge to terminate his rights? and what are my chances of a judge saying yes?

You can ask, but the odds are somewhere between zip, zero and nada.

Wy have you not filed for support?

 

[Eekamouse]

Your ex doesn't have to give you a cent without a court order so you can't find fault with him for that. Why would you think you can have his rights terminated?

 

[Ladyback1]

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

Hi I live in iowa, I have a lawyer (but I don't think he is very good it family law) but before I find some one else i would like to know if a few things are true?
so here is my story ( in a nut shell) my son is two years old ( i have had him independently for the last year and a half) his bio dad has been arrested and found with drugs, also has a founded child abuse on his record because he tried "kidnapping" him from me and broke my arm in the processes, yes there is a no contact order between us ( but not for my son) he has seen him about 8 times with supervised visits( the visits are done by a dhs agency ) in the last year and a half . He dose not pay child support never has, there isn't even a order out there! we have a custody hearing coming up march 2015, can I ask the judge to terminate his rights? and what are my chances of a judge saying yes?

What is the specific purpose of the court date in March?
Is it to set a parenting plan/visitation schedule? Is it to determine if child support is warranted?

How old is the kiddo?? (basically how long as this been going on all together? Longer than the last 1.5 yrs?)

 

[latigo]

. . . He doesn't have to pay support without a court order. (?)

Sorry to have to disagree but that conclusion is not supportable.

There is nothing in the Iowa Code remotely suggesting that the absence of a court order requiring a parent to provide for their children under the age of eighteen is a defense to either (1) a proceeding for termination of the relationship (Iowa Code Section 600A) or felony criminal charges for non support (Iowa Code Section 726.5)

It is an inherent obligation that exists independent of any such court order! And not to the exclusion of the laws of your state with respect to Termination of Parental Rights and the issue of abandonment. (Ohio Revised Code § 2151.414) To-wit:

"The parent has demonstrated a lack of commitment toward the child by failing to regularly support, visit, or communicate with the child when able to do so."

 

[Just Blue]

Sorry to have to disagree but that conclusion is not supportable.

There is nothing in the Iowa Code remotely suggesting that the absence of a court order requiring a parent to provide for their children under the age of eighteen is a defense to either (1) a proceeding for termination of the relationship (Iowa Code Section 600A) or felony criminal charges for non support (Iowa Code Section 726.5)

It is an inherent obligation that exists independent of any such court order! And not to the exclusion of the laws of your state with respect to Termination of Parental Rights and the issue of abandonment. (Ohio Revised Code § 2151.414) To-wit:

"The parent has demonstrated a lack of commitment toward the child by failing to regularly support, visit, or communicate with the child when able to do so."

How do you, or any of us know, that the man OP is writing about is the LEGAL father? We don't. OP post is not really clear...

 

[t74]

OP, you can offer to terminate your own rights and allow the child to live with his father. You will be required to pay CS.

This is more reasonable than your initial request to terminate Dad's rights based on your request.

 

[Ladyback1]

OP, you can offer to terminate your own rights and allow the child to live with his father. You will be required to pay CS.

This is more reasonable than your initial request to terminate Dad's rights based on your request.

no, neither is more reasonable.
(First off, there is obviously a LEGAL issue with Dad being a caregiver for the child or he wouldn't have supervised visits).

I get what you are trying to convey, but it is worded badly.

 

[LdiJ]

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

Hi I live in iowa, I have a lawyer (but I don't think he is very good it family law) but before I find some one else i would like to know if a few things are true?
so here is my story ( in a nut shell) my son is two years old ( i have had him independently for the last year and a half) his bio dad has been arrested and found with drugs, also has a founded child abuse on his record because he tried "kidnapping" him from me and broke my arm in the processes, yes there is a no contact order between us ( but not for my son) he has seen him about 8 times with supervised visits( the visits are done by a dhs agency ) in the last year and a half . He dose not pay child support never has, there isn't even a order out there! we have a custody hearing coming up march 2015, can I ask the judge to terminate his rights? and what are my chances of a judge saying yes?

I am going to start this over from scratch.

First, the states do not desire to terminate a parent's rights because they want two legal parents responsible for children. While there may not be a child support order in place at this time, should you need state benefits to support the child the state wants another parent to go after to help recoup their costs.
About the only exception to that is a situation where the parent has been found to be so grossly unfit, that the state has to terminate their rights in order to protect the child. Think a situation where the parent beats the child half to death and CPS takes the child away...and the parent does nothing to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of the court.

In most states that means that unless there is a stepparent who is willing to adopt the child and take over the legal responsibilities, it is not going to be possible to terminate a parent's rights. That parent could be denied visitation or custody for good cause, but their rights and therefore responsibilities (or potential responsibilities) would not be terminated.

In additional to that, even if there is a stepparent willing to adopt each state has a minimum amount of time that the parent has to go without any significant contact with their child in order for rights to be involuntarily terminated. Significant contact can very a bit between states, as well as the minimum amount of time, but in general that means absolutely no contact or support for a year or more.

In your case, dad has been seeing the child, albeit on a limited, supervised basis, AND you have a pending custody case. Therefore there is little chance that dad is going to be viewed as having abandoned the child for legal purposes.

Now, if what you really meant was terminating his visitation rights, that could possibly be a different story, but again, generally that isn't going to happen if the parent is on supervised visitation and has not shown to be a danger to the child under supervision. You stated that dad's supervised visits take place at a DHS agency. If dad acted up badly at the agency during supervised visits, that might be cause for visitation rights to be terminated.

I hope this helps you see the reality of things.