What Are Good Grounds to Have a Father's Rights Taken Away

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Florida

My childs father has in the last yr or more moved without telling me where and the people I know he knows and where he has moved just tell me that he told them not to tell me where he moved, he wont answer my email that i send to him about our child, he changed his number and like with the move those who know it are told not to tell me, he wont see our child, and at this point he has no established rights but i was wondering if i had good grounds to get his unestablished rights completely taken away from him.

You can't take away what he doesn't have.

all he has to do is go to court and get them i want to make it where he cant do that (or atleast where he will be in the childs life as much as a father should be) i talked to the court house today and they said i would have to open a case to do it, i just dont know if i would have good grounds to stand on

This is not my area of expertise but my understanding is that unless you can show that he is in some way endangering the child, a court will not take away his rights.

i know what u are saying cbg but i am somehow hoping that it is still enough. he has cut off all communication between the two.

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i want to make it where he cant do that

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You can't stop him from SEEKING parental rights. This is a power you gave him when you slept with him, and it can't be taken back.

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atleast where he will be in the childs life as much as a father should be

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Neither you nor the courts can make any parent be the way the "should be". T

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talked to the court house today and they said i would have to open a case to do it, i just dont know if i would have good grounds to stand on

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First, don't take legal advice from anyone but YOUR OWN ATTORNEY. Clerks and courthouse personnel are NOT attorneys and cannot give LEGAL advice - just as no one HERE can give you legal advice. It's important to understand this. Now with that said... absolutely, you can open a paternity case yourself. What that will accomplish is to get dad recognized as the legal father, which would open the door for you to seek child support or other motions, such as termination of dad's rights. But right now, he hasn't abandoned anyone, because as of right now he's not the legal father. He can't abandon a child that isn't recognized as his yet. So you'll need to open a case, have him established as the father (either via DNA or by default if he takes no action). Once THAT is done, THEN after a period of time you can ASK the court to terminate his parental rights. If he ends up paying child support, that will be taken as a form of contact, even if he never sets eyes on the child, and your request for termination will be turned down UNLESS you are married AND your spouse is willing to adopt the child. Courts want children to have TWO parents and if you take steps to establish two parents, you have no guarantee that the court will cut dad out, even IF you can prove abandonment.

Right now, dad is a legal nobody with no rights. If you start taking steps in court, you'll start a process where he'll be GIVEN rights first, and THEN you'll have to take them away (much harder to take them than to give them). Lots of people make mistakes here, as they are suddenly surprised that a deadbeat/disappeared parent suddenly goes for custody once the legal balls start rolling. And unless dad can be PROVEN to be a danger to the child, if he SEEKS rights you need to anticipate that he will GET them. You might create the exact sitiation you're trying to avoid. So do NOTHING until you sit down with an experienced family law attorney.

alright hold up.... obviously there is some miscommunication... dad IS the legal father he just doesnt pay support (he isnt court ordered as of yet) and he doesnt have visitation or custody because he wont file for it. I dont want him to come in later and do what he has in the past... she is now 5 and since she was 3 months he would come in for 2 months leave for a yr come in for 2 months leave for a yr come in for 2 weeks leave for 2 yrs come in for a day and that was it... he IS the legal father... has has rights they just havent been established.

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ok i replied but idk what happened to it.... basically since 2007 dad was DNA tested and PROVED to be dad. he has never paid child support and hasnt really ever been in her life besides like 6 months total (if even) 2 months a yr except for 1 and then it was 2 weeks and another he didnt see her at all. He Is her legal father and has been since she was about 3 months old. (she is now 5)

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I dont want him to come in later and do what he has in the past

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This is not up to you.

He can be a "float in and out" Dad if that's what he wants, and there's nothing you can do to stop him. If he is the legal father - that is, on the birth certificate - and he is not posing a clear DANGER to the child, there's not a thing you can do to prevent him from seeking visitation, nor can you do anything to force him to do so.

At this point, it's about the rights of the child, and the child has the absolute right to BOTH parents, regardless of what they think about each other.

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he has never paid child support

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Until the court orders him to do so, he doesn't have to. What was the result of your support petition to the court?

they cant find him because he has moved and wont tell anyone where he works... they cant give him the paperwork.

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dad IS the legal father

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So his name already appears on the birth certificate? (or you were married at the time of birth?)

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Quoting Maie Clarke

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he just doesnt pay support (he isnt court ordered as of yet)

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Then support isn't an issue yet. If he GETS an order, and pays, that'll be enough "contact" to negate claims of abandonment. Hard part apparantly is going to be FINDING him to serve the order.

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and he doesnt have visitation or custody because he wont file for it.

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He's not required to seek either. Abandonment generally isn't going to be on the table until the child support case is finalized, and it'll take a history over time of him not paying any ordered amount before the court MIGHT consider abandonment.

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I dont want him to come in later and do what he has in the past

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You can't STOP that.

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.. she is now 5 and since she was 3 months he would come in for 2 months leave for a yr come in for 2 months leave for a yr come in for 2 weeks leave for 2 yrs come in for a day and that was it...

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Crappy parenting, but perfectly legal. He's allowed to be in and out. In and out won't get a ruling of abandonment. Courts consider even sporadic contact better than none at all.

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he IS the legal father... has has rights they just havent been established

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He can formally establish them in the future if he chooses to do so. Again, you can't stop him from seeking to do so. The only way to stop it is to go back in time and not have his child.

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Quoting Maie Clarke

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they cant find him because he has moved and wont tell anyone where he works... they cant give him the paperwork.

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Here's where working with an attorney will save you time, money, and gray hair in the long run. An attorney can work strategies to deal with "dad on the run" cases - they are complicated and must be done EXACTLY right with exquisite procedure and documentation - THEN when all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted, and the attorney has built a rock solild case that every reasonable legal measure has been taken to locate dad - or even better - a pattern of dad's behavior of "running" can be established, then, and only then, is the court likely to consider abandonment.

But it's not going to happen on in-and-out visitation, where no court orders are being violated, without both (a) a good attorney, and (b) time to establish and document a pattern of behavior. It's not going to be a do-it-yourself thing. There is no other answer than: you need to be working with an attorney.

I am just speaking from personal experience and speaking with different attorneys. In FL they are not going to take a parents rights away easily. My ex had not been in contact with my children AT ALL for over 3 years had only paid about 6 mos of child support in that time. The only reason he paid that is because I have an IDO and they find him with his SS#. I was told that he would have to be served through constructive services. If that was negative then would have to do a diligent search and inquiry. Even with those things IF he still isn’t found they may remove his rights. BUT there must be another party such as a step parent willing to step up and adopt. It has to be ruled in the Childs best interest. I am not sure if this matches up with law books etc. I do know I spoke too two different attorneys and that is what I was told.

That's pretty much the bottom line in most states, Jess.

Mom, you made this man the father of your child. Unfortunately, he's allowed to come and go from his child's life as much as he wants (with court ordered visitation he doesn't have to visit...you have to make the child available, but he doesn't actually have to turn up) to a massive degree.

It takes a LOT for a court to strip a parent of their rights, and for good reason.

i understand with what a lot of you are saying, yes he is on the birth certificate i was never married to him (thank God) and there is no order and I already know that without an order I dont have to let him see her, and while that is not what I wanted to do I will not have her hurt by him being a part time dad. Though honestly I dont think that will be much of an issue since he hasnt wanted to see her too much this long. when she is older and if he decides he wants to contact her then i will leave that line of communication open and i will leave that up to her.

And in the meantime, he's free to go and file for visitation and there is, really, nothing you can do to prevent him from doing that.

If he's a part-time Dad, so be it.

Mae, your question was: Do you have good grounds to have his rights taken away.

The legally correct answer is, No, you not only do not have good grounds but you do not have ANY grounds, to have his rights taken away.

I hope that this is now clear to you.

I was more thinking on abandonment charges... but it doesnt really matter. like i stated above if he wants to see her (not like i think it is going to happen) he will have to get a court order since I have been trying to get him to see her for 5 yrs and he has refused to see her. now on the other hand if our child decides that she wants to see her father i would be more then happy to assist her in every way possible to make sure we do all we can to make sure she can see him... but that too is his decision.

Can I give you a bit of parenting advice?

Don't give your daughter that sort of power. It's natural that she might want to see her father - but neither she nor you can force the issue and it's best that she's not given the impression that it IS her decision. Quite honestly, what you might want to do is file for a visitation order anyway - even if he's not seeing her.

If you're serious about filing abandonment, go ahead and get a visitation order in place first. That's what many courts look at - that's when the clock starts ticking with regards to abandonment.