Termination of parental rights

[sunnyday123]

What is the name of your state? PA
My husband and I have a hearing on Tuesday to try and get my ex's parental rights terminated (hasn't seen my son in 4 years and is $10k in arears). He was served - by certified letter, his signature is on the card. Chances are, he won't show up on Tuesday because he has a few warrants. What are our chances for the judge to terminate parental rights in his absence when our lawyer shows proof of service?
Thank you in advance

 

[Zephyr]

if this is the very first hearing in the TPR the judge MIGHT continue to a later date because of the magnitude of the issue, does dad have a lawyer?

 

[sunnyday123]

no, he doesn't have a lawyer.

Thank you

 

[tigger22472]

Is the adoption being done at the same time?

If there is proof that dad was served and still does not respond the odds of the judge granting this is very good.

In Indiana it's all done at once (TPR and adoption), not sure if it's the same in PA.

 

[sunnyday123]

no -actually the adoption hearing would be at a later date. Unfortunately they dont do it at once,
We did get the certified letter reciept signed by him- hopefully that'll be enough

 

[ceara19]

no -actually the adoption hearing would be at a later date. Unfortunately they dont do it at once,
We did get the certified letter reciept signed by him- hopefully that'll be enough

Because of the manner in which he was served, the judge may very well continue the case until Personal Service has at least been attempted. When a certified letter is delivered, the mailman doesn't usually ask the person receiving the letter if they are in fact the person named. But if the chances are slim that he will show up on Tuesday because of warrants, it is doubtful that he would show up at the next hearing either.

 

[tigger22472]

Because of the manner in which he was served, the judge may very well continue the case until Personal Service has at least been attempted. When a certified letter is delivered, the mailman doesn't usually ask the person receiving the letter if they are in fact the person named. But if the chances are slim that he will show up on Tuesday because of warrants, it is doubtful that he would show up at the next hearing either.

I hate to disagree with you, however, as long as the service is consistant with laws and the court then there should be no issue. In fact, service by certified letter is quite commonly accepted. I simply do not see the courts continuing this and wasting more court time for something that has already occured consistant with the court.

OP... what did the letter state? Did it tell him about the hearing? Did it tell him he had X amount of days to contest or file anything?

 

[ceara19]

I hate to disagree with you, however, as long as the service is consistant with laws and the court then there should be no issue. In fact, service by certified letter is quite commonly accepted. I simply do not see the courts continuing this and wasting more court time for something that has already occured consistant with the court.

OP... what did the letter state? Did it tell him about the hearing? Did it tell him he had X amount of days to contest or file anything?

I wasn't implying that this is what WILL happen. I only wanted to point out one fairly popular reason that MAY cause a Judge to issue a continuance.

As Zephyr pointed out, because of the serious impact that the ruling will have on those involved, a judge would be more inclined to continue this case then he would a case with less serious consequences.

 

[sunnyday123]

Tigger, the letter told him about the hearing - the day, time, what it was about.

And he did in fact sign for the certified letter, not someone else in the house

 

[tigger22472]

Tigger, the letter told him about the hearing - the day, time, what it was about.

And he did in fact sign for the certified letter, not someone else in the house

Don't sweat it, if he shows he shows, nothing you can do. If he doesn't I can honestly say I don't really see them continuing the case.

 

[justmom611]

Don't sweat it, if he shows he shows, nothing you can do. If he doesn't I can honestly say I don't really see them continuing the case.

Our TPR case finalized last week. My ex was served and originally was contesting it, so we prepared for a trial. On the trial date, my ex did not show up and the judge signed the order terminating his parental rights right then and there.

 

[tigger22472]

Our TPR case finalized last week. My ex was served and originally was contesting it, so we prepared for a trial. On the trial date, my ex did not show up and the judge signed the order terminating his parental rights right then and there.

Hopefully the OP will come back and tell us what happened since the hearing was today!

 

[sunnyday123]

our hearing was today and he actually showed up with a lawyer! we never would've guessed. He contested it and his lawyer tried to say he didn't know where we were.... BUT we always notifed domestic relations when we moved (twice since he had contact - and the furthest we ever moved was the next town over). He always had my parents address and phone number, since i moved back home when him and I split. Matter of fact he would communicate with my mom a lot since she did a lot of the running around, taking my son over and picking him up b/c i had a pfa against him at the time.

Non jury trial is scheduled for August. He hasn't seen my son in years.....but all of a sudden wants to? Now that he's out of diapers and more independent......

It's a shame, i never was one to screw the system - did everything by the book, even went out of my way to keep my son in his life for fear my son would hate me later on if i tried to keep him from his birth father.

The only good thing we got out of today was watching him be led away in handcuffs - had warrants for not paying support

 

[tigger22472]

our hearing was today and he actually showed up with a lawyer! we never would've guessed. He contested it and his lawyer tried to say he didn't know where we were.... BUT we always notifed domestic relations when we moved (twice since he had contact - and the furthest we ever moved was the next town over). He always had my parents address and phone number, since i moved back home when him and I split. Matter of fact he would communicate with my mom a lot since she did a lot of the running around, taking my son over and picking him up b/c i had a pfa against him at the time.

Non jury trial is scheduled for August. He hasn't seen my son in years.....but all of a sudden wants to? Now that he's out of diapers and more independent......

It's a shame, i never was one to screw the system - did everything by the book, even went out of my way to keep my son in his life for fear my son would hate me later on if i tried to keep him from his birth father.

The only good thing we got out of today was watching him be led away in handcuffs - had warrants for not paying support

Had to snicker at the last part.
Is there a current order for vistitation? With him contesting it's likely that he's going to try and utilize that visitation now. The problem is that he's not had a relationship with the child. I didn't catch if you have a lawyer. If so ask for their advice on what to do if he attempts to utilize visitation. Obviously if you don't allow it you are in contempt, however, with the time that it's been there is the option that seeking a psychologist to evaluate would be helpful.

Keep in mind that the time he hasn't had contact WILL still come into play. Once a notice like this has been given contact does not wash all that time away when it comes to the leverage that the judge has in terminating his rights without his consent.

It doesn't sound that the judge believed him a whole lot or was too happy with him since he had the warrant for no CS to be served then.

How did the judge act?

Did he ask dad why he hadn't paid support?
Did he comment when your ex said he didn't know where you were?

All of these things could help ease your mind the next few months. However, not trying to scare you, depending on the situation, judges usually don't like to TPR when the parent contests so you're going to have good stuff.

 

[sunnyday123]

there is no order for visitation. When I filed for the PFA back in 2002 the judge granted him every Sunday from 12 to 5. From that point on I documented every time he contacted us, we contacted him, times he stood our son up - which were a lot, verbally harrassed me, etc. I even have "good" stuff written, such as the few times he called to check on our son. He only contacted us up to 10 months after the pfa and that was it.
We do have a lawyer, and we didn't even go in front of the judge. Since he contested it our lawyers had to go in, not us. His lawyer said someting about not knowing where we were and I had a pfa, our lawyer said that had nothing to do wtih it. But still, since he contested the judge needs more detail.
We asked our lawyer what would happen if he tried for visitation, he said he'd file for some kind of order to bar any visitation until it's over.
My lawyer said in the meantime type up the contents of my notebook and we'll take it from there. He said my mom will most likely be a witness since she was a big part of this, in the beginning. I'm hoping a judge would believe all I've written down. I know it's he said/she said but I'm not a criminal. The notebook is very detailed and long. Typed, its 7 pages so far and I have about 5 months to go yet.
The birth father did just get arrested recently for a drug incident