Termination of Parental Rights, Abandonment During/Post-Birth

[oryx2009]

My question involves paternity law for the State of: TX

if a father has abandoned the pregnancy in all forms for the entire duration of the pregnancy financially and the majority of the relationship physically, he is therefore not present at the time of birth to place his name/signature on the birth certificate and acknowledgement forms, yes?

SO a mother has acted in due diligence to keep the father apart of the pregnancy, labor and plans to share child in which the father has resisted.

Now, post-birth.. the mother is settling into her routine with her infant. She is taking care of the child and continuing to receive no support/contact from the father in any form.

The father decides to apply for acknowledgement of paternity and the mother in turn applies for a termination of parental rights on the basis of knowledgable abandonment of pregnancy and post-birth when it was within the fathers' means to not abandon pregnancy. Compounding her defense, the father abandoned the pregnancy for the continuation of soliciting prostitutes while knowingly have unprotected sexual intercourse with the mother during her pregnancy until the discovery of his actions.

Lets say at the time that this suit is taking place, the mother is arguing that she would like to support the biological father-child relationship but is still moving to Terminate Parental Rights so that she can maintain continued support of the child and it's routine and wishes to avoid future custody/financial disputes. The woman is financially secure and wishes to only maintain her security and precautions for her continuation of discretion for the best interest of the child by removing the father's legal financial and custodial obligations/rights on grounds that he has not fulfilled such previously. The father has remained out of the child's life and has been uncooperative/resistant to any communication necessary to agree on determining child's best interest until he blatantly avoided contact with the mother... thus how the couple got to this point in the first place.

Is anyone aware of situations like this and where the mother's interest prevails? Is the mother's chance greater if she is has re-married or has found someone to take legal financial responsibility in an instance that she could not, as seems to be the major cause for concern for a judge in not granting the termination?

Does the father have a better chance of prevailing and gaining a form of custody even after his abandonment if he is secure in his employment?

This is complex in a way, but easy in not so much of a way. The basic interest here is to not exposing the child to legal system of 'custodial rights.' And it is also to maintain and support on-going rights of mother who has exhibited her paternal obligations in full and therefore wishes to be awarded her paternal rights in full without fear of being contested by the father.

Can I get some personal and or legally-based feed back on how this situation might be interpreted in a family court, specifically Texas or Oklahoma would be great! and Thank you!

These situation are awful. It is unfortunate that one or both parties are not willing to mend their ways and work on themselves or what they originally found in one another that made them go so far as to create a child. Either way you go, a child and/or parent is going to hurt during this process.

[Neal1421]

My question involves paternity law for the State of: TX

if a father has abandoned the pregnancy in all forms for the entire duration of the pregnancy financially and the majority of the relationship physically, he is therefore not present at the time of birth to place his name/signature on the birth certificate and acknowledgement forms, yes?

SO a mother has acted in due diligence to keep the father apart of the pregnancy, labor and plans to share child in which the father has resisted.

Now, post-birth.. the mother is settling into her routine with her infant. She is taking care of the child and continuing to receive no support/contact from the father in any form.

At this point he is not the father of the child legally and is not obligated to any type of support. Until paternity is established, he has no child.

The father decides to apply for acknowledgement of paternity and the mother in turn applies for a termination of parental rights on the basis of knowledgable abandonment of pregnancy and post-birth when it was within the fathers' means to not abandon pregnancy. Compounding her defense, the father abandoned the pregnancy for the continuation of soliciting prostitutes while knowingly have unprotected sexual intercourse with the mother during her pregnancy until the discovery of his actions.

The termination that she has filed for isn't going to fly. As I stated, he has no rights at this point to terminate. They were not married, therefore he was not legally obligated to any type of support while she was pregnant.

Lets say at the time that this suit is taking place, the mother is arguing that she would like to support the biological father-child relationship but is still moving to Terminate Parental Rights so that she can maintain continued support of the child and it's routine and wishes to avoid future custody/financial disputes. The woman is financially secure and wishes to only maintain her security and precautions for her continuation of discretion for the best interest of the child by removing the father's legal financial and custodial obligations/rights on grounds that he has not fulfilled such previously. The father has remained out of the child's life and has been uncooperative/resistant to any communication necessary to agree on determining child's best interest until he blatantly avoided contact with the mother... thus how the couple got to this point in the first place.


[B]Again, until paternity is established he has no rights to the mother or child.B]

Is anyone aware of situations like this and where the mother's interest prevails? Is the mother's chance greater if she is has re-married or has found someone to take legal financial responsibility in an instance that she could not, as seems to be the major cause for concern for a judge in not granting the termination?

It doesn't matter what the mother's best interest are, only the best interests of the child which is to know both parents. The mother would have to be remarried and her husband would have to be willing to adopt the child.

Does the father have a better chance of prevailing and gaining a form of custody even after his abandonment if he is secure in his employment?

Whether or not he is secure in his employment is a non issue. If he files for custody in court, it is likely that he might get at least joint legal custody and visitation.

This is complex in a way, but easy in not so much of a way. The basic interest here is to not exposing the child to legal system of 'custodial rights.' And it is also to maintain and support on-going rights of mother who has exhibited her paternal obligations in full and therefore wishes to be awarded her paternal rights in full without fear of being contested by the father.

Can I get some personal and or legally-based feed back on how this situation might be interpreted in a family court, specifically Texas or Oklahoma would be great! and Thank you!

These situation are awful. It is unfortunate that one or both parties are not willing to mend their ways and work on themselves or what they originally found in one another that made them go so far as to create a child. Either way you go, a child and/or parent is going to hurt during this process.

Bottom line is that the alleged father isn't the legal father at this point and therefore has no legal obligations to this child. If he files a paternity suit and it is determined that he is the father of the child, he could get joint legal custody and visitation as previously stated.

How old is the child?

[oryx2009]

The age of the child is meaningless at this point, since attorneys, etc. concur in fact that father can at any point stake his legal rights to making decisions on the child's behalf at any point he wishes so long as he proves paternity.

The mother's interst was not a reference to not allowing the father access to maintaining a relationship with the child. It was to maintain her legal/paternal right to determine the best interest in the child, as she had been doing through the pregnancy and infancy as legal/physical sole custodian. Fit parent(s) unless otherwise proven, maintain best interest of their child until the child becomes an adult. The best interest is determined by both of them. The best interest of the child is to know both of its parents, but one parent cannot coerce another into that relationship. The absent parent must make that choice. And if at any time the absent parent chooses to re-enter the child's life through the court system, he will be granted legal decision making rights. Regardless of his abandonment nor fact that he was within his means to not do so.

It's evident that even had the father showed no concern and resisted his right to exhibit his best interest both physically/financially for the child when the mother acted in due diligence to seek his participation is of no value because even though a court in TX will treat a custody case where two people are not married under the same guidelines as if they are married, there is no weight against the father's abandonment when he choose not to be present at the signing of the birth certificate/acknowledgement of paternity, because of the fact that they were not marrried. etc. etc.

Thank you for your advice nonetheless.