Parental rights

[gernan]

i'm from hawaii. my fiance has a 5 year old daughter. currently, the ex has custody, although i don't know what kind of custody. we get her every other weekend and he pays close to $300 a month in child support. the ex continues to cause trouble and hassles for us to the point that its becoming frustrating to pick her up and spend time with her. we currently are thinking about getting more time with her, whether it's some sort of joint custody or being able to have her every weekend. do we need a court order to do this or can it just be an agreement between my fiance and his ex? what if it is just word of mouth, would she be able to file complaints that he is not following the initial court order(which is he only gets her every other weekend and not every weekend). what if he gives up his parental rights, does he still need to pay child support and would she be able to collect more if he does give up his rights?how difficult would it be for us to fight for joint or legal custody of his daughter? how expensive?

 

[VeronicaGia]

If you don't get a court order for more, it means nothing. The ex can decide to change her mind. Nothing verbal holds water in court. Do nothing regarding visitation, custody or any financial agreements other than with court order/approval! Ever!

Giving up parental rights without someone to adopt the child simply means he is giving up his right to see and be involved in his childs life. He will still have to pay support, and it would probably go up, because he would no longer have parenting time!

Lawyer charges vary.

Do nothing verbally; it will bite you in the ____ later!

 

[gernan]

Finding out what his rights are as father of the child

we live in hawaii, so what if he does give up his rights as father and the mother's current boyfriend/husband wants to adopt her, does he still pay child support if the other guy adopts her? how can i, as his fiancee, get any information regarding his child support case? am i liable to pay or include my income when it comes to determining child support once we get married? he pays about $300/mo in child support and only gets her every other weekend. under what circumstances would this be? i mean, what would the situation have to be for him to pay so much and get so little time? i believe the ex is not abiding by the court order, but my fiancee doesn't remember what the conditions were when they went to court. his mom has the court papers and is taking forever to get them to me. i want to find out all that i can, but being that i am only his fiancee, i don't know what rights i have, if any. is there a way for us to request copies? he has a hard time asking questions and he's not sure of what kinds to ask, but i do, so would i be able to intervene on his behalf, or would everything need to come from him because he is the father? the mother's boyfriend has more rights, it seems, than my fiancee does. the boyfriend can pick her up from school and take her wherever and whenever, my fiancee can't even pick her up from school. is that right? it seems to me that something isn't right. he's the father, but he can't even get her when he wants to. the mom always makes plans for her when we have her, and we end up taking her home early. when we tell her, she goes off at the mouth and begins to act like the child. i believe she neglects her. the kinds of things that she says to us that the mother does to her is really unbelieveable. please help. i'm desperate to settle this once and for all.

 

[Jenifa]

a suggestion

http://www.secondwives.org

i suggest you go here...maybe you can get some help with your issues with his ex.