If a Non-Custodial Parent Has Never Met a Child, What Are Their Visitation Rights

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

My son is currently 3 years old and has never met his biological father. I was recently required by the state of Texas to open a child support case regarding my son so that he can maintain his medical benefits. The non-custodial parent is stationed in California with the Army. What visitation rights will the non-custodial parent receive, if any, once child support is established? What type of custody rights will he have since my son is already 3? Thank you.

Google Texas standard visitation plan.

He'll start off with short, frequent visits and progress all the way to overnights, weekends and entire weeks.

Child support doesn't mean he gets visitation though - he has to file for visitation separately.

How will all of that work if he lives in California and I live in Texas? Will he have to take me to court here in Texas?

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Quoting Dogmatique

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He'll start off with short, frequent visits and progress all the way to overnights, weekends and entire weeks.

Child support doesn't mean he gets visitation though - he has to file for visitation separately.

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In Texas though, the AG will order the standard plan. So that is not quite true, Dogmatique.

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Quoting kroenke88

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How will all of that work if he lives in California and I live in Texas? Will he have to take me to court here in Texas?

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Yes.

So, as long as he is unable to come here and take me to court, he won't have any visitation rights?

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Quoting kroenke88

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So, as long as he is unable to come here and take me to court, he won't have any visitation rights?

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Of course, there's nothing wrong with you taking the child to visit with his father.

Is there?

My son has had my fiance in his life for the past two years. He sees him as his dad. The biological father has had nothing to do with him for the past three years. I never would have opened this case if not forced to. My son doesn't need his biological father deciding to have a conscience and confuse him. If may not even be an issue. This case has been open for six months and he has shown no interest, it may stay that way.

Your son didn't need his mother to insist that someone else is his father.

For all his faults, your ex is the child's Dad. Not your fiance. If he's confused when Dad comes into the scene, that's hardly Dad's fault.

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Quoting kroenke88

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My son has had my fiance in his life for the past two years. He sees him as his dad. The biological father has had nothing to do with him for the past three years. I never would have opened this case if not forced to. My son doesn't need his biological father deciding to have a conscience and confuse him. If may not even be an issue. This case has been open for six months and he has shown no interest, it may stay that way.

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So you are lying to your child. Your fiancé is NOT dad. Your fiancé is the man you are currently shtupping. Nothing more. Congrats.

If you're receiving state aid for your child then the state will be taking a portion of that support (possibly a significant portion depending on how long you've been receiving state assistance for his care).

And the rules are slightly different when it comes to military personnel. You'll need to speak to an attorney in your area to find out what special considerations he will be granted since he's stationed in California.

I spoke with an attorney today. He said that unless the biological father requests to establish a relationship, then there will not be a visitation order established. So far, it doesn't appear that he has any interest. If he does want visitation, he will have to hire a lawyer in the state of Texas and come here to take me to court. He will also have to be available to come to Texas frequently to establish a relationship with my son before he will be granted any visitation outside the state of Texas.

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Quoting kroenke88

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How will all of that work if he lives in California and I live in Texas? Will he have to take me to court here in Texas?

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TX will order a standard possession order so here is what dad will be entitled to:

In legal terms, custody is called conservatorship and visitation is referred to as periods of possession. In Texas, the law presumes that parents will be “joint managing conservators,” meaning they will share parental rights and duties. In most cases, the court grants these rights and duties to both parents, as long as it is in the best interest of the child.

The presumption in Texas is the Standard Possession Order.

For parents who live within 100 miles of each other, the noncustodial parent has visitation:

First, third and fifth weekends of every month.
Thursday evenings of each week.
Alternating holidays (such as Thanksgiving every other year).
An extended period of time (30 days) during the summer vacation.

For parents who live more than 100 miles apart:

The weekend schedule may be the same or reduced to one weekend per month.
There is no mid-week visitation.
The holiday schedule remains the same (alternating holidays).
The noncustodial parent has the child(ren) every spring break and for a longer extended period in the summer (42 days).
The court may modify the Standard Possession Order based on the child’s best interest. For example, if the child is very young (under 3 years old) or if the noncustodial parent has had very little or no previous contact with the child, the court may order a Modified Possession Order, which starts off with shorter visits that become progressively longer until the Standard Possession Order is reached. Once again, the court is making decisions based on what is best for the child.

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov...todial-parents

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Quoting kroenke88

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I spoke with an attorney today. He said that unless the biological father requests to establish a relationship, then there will not be a visitation order established. So far, it doesn't appear that he has any interest. If he does want visitation, he will have to hire a lawyer in the state of Texas and come here to take me to court. He will also have to be available to come to Texas frequently to establish a relationship with my son before he will be granted any visitation outside the state of Texas.

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I would tend to believe the attorney you consulted. I will say that the TX AG's office does have the ability to order the TX standard visitation plan IF the non custodial parent asks that it be ordered...at the time that child support is ordered.

You would tend to be wrong. TX has their own way of doing things and issuing a standard possession order is how they've ALWAYS done it.

I'm surprised that the people youve inevitably know in TX didn't tell you that (and yes, someone very close to me just went through this).

My attorney stated that the attorney general's office cannot handle visitation for my case because the father has never met the child. In cases like this, child support can be established without establishing visitation because the two are separate matters. The father will have to be able to afford to hire an attorney and come to Texas to request to establish a relationship before there will be a visitation order drawn up. This is not the first time my attorney has handled a case like mine. So, as of right now, there will be no visitation. Thank you for the help and advice.

it's not clear is there is yet a formal acknowledgement of paternity or an court order equivalent to same .

Texas probably prefers some role,in childs life for bio dad and if dad seeks same he is likely to get some .....

BTW, where is Dad domociled ..not just where is he stationed?

The biological father is not on the birth certificate; nor is there an acknowledgement of paternity signed. My son was born in a military hospital. Therefore, the military has both the father and the son's DNA on file. That is how paternity was established once the child support was filed in Texas. That father's home of record is Washington state. However, since he is stationed in California, Texas and California are working together to set up a child support order. And my lawyer stated that the biological father will be required to take me to court in Texas if he wishes to have any type of visitation.

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Quoting kroenke88

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The biological father is not on the birth certificate; nor is there an acknowledgement of paternity signed. My son was born in a military hospital. Therefore, the military has both the father and the son's DNA on file. That is how paternity was established once the child support was filed in Texas. That father's home of record is Washington state. However, since he is stationed in California, Texas and California are working together to set up a child support order. And my lawyer stated that the biological father will be required to take me to court in Texas if he wishes to have any type of visitation.

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I'm rooting for Daddy! I sincerely hope he comes to one of the legal forums, where I'm sure many of us would be very happy to help him.

And trust me - when he's ordered to pay child support, you better believe he's going to want to see HIS child. Be careful, dear. Because the very second he gets wind of you trying to replace him with another guy, he's going to raise hell and your life could become very, very different. And you won't like it one bit.

:cool:

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Quoting Dogmatique

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I'm rooting for Daddy! I sincerely hope he comes to one of the legal forums, where I'm sure many of us would be very happy to help him.

And trust me - when he's ordered to pay child support, you better believe he's going to want to see HIS child. Be careful, dear. Because the very second he gets wind of you trying to replace him with another guy, he's going to raise hell and your life could become very, very different. And you won't like it one bit.

:cool:

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I dunno...the child is three and dad showed no interest so far. I agree that he will probably want visitation...but I think its a little up in he air whether he will truly follow through once he gets it.

So your child could have been enrolled in TriCare for medical coverage and you didn't do so. Why? If he was born in a military hospital then you KNOW about TriCare and you know that children of active duty military personnel qualify for medical coverage.

As a member of the military dad also has access to FREE legal services. He doesn't have to appear personally, and there's a network of lawyers nationwide who handle domestic matters on behalf of soldiers pro bono.

By failing to do one simple task and enrolling the child in TriCare, you've not only put yourself in the position of having to go on public assistance when it was completely unnecessary, but also managed to force the state to go after him for reimbursement for all financial assistance that you've received for your son (that includes the cost of medical care) so you probably won't see very much in the form of child support. Not only that, since the rate for one child in TX is 20% and enlisted military personnel make squat it's going to be 20% of not very much. AND, as Doggie stated, when a bio dad gets hit with a support order they almost always go after visitation. Not to mention joint legal custody giving him decision making rights.

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Quoting llworking

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I dunno...the child is three and dad showed no interest so far. I agree that he will probably want visitation...but I think its a little up in he air whether he will truly follow through once he gets it.

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No matter what Dad did or didn't do, she's actively trying to replace him with her latest guy and has been for quite some time. THAT is deplorable.

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Quoting Dogmatique

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No matter what Dad did or didn't do, she's actively trying to replace him with her latest guy and has been for quite some time. THAT is deplorable.

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In this instance I am not sure that I would use the word deplorable. A serious error in judgment yes, but dad having shown no interest, its a human error. Unfortunately its a human error that will end up impacting the child in ways that mom cannot yet imagine...which is why its a HUGE error.

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that a previously uninterested father is going to be the one turning it into a fiasco. Its far more likely that mom and current "daddy" will be the ones who eventually do that.

Absent a voluntary determination of paternity Im still lost as to how the due process steps were followed under Tx law to properly determine dad is dad. The scientific outcome may be obvious but the steps to get there sure don't appear in OPs postings.....

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Quoting HRinDEVON

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Absent a voluntary determination of paternity Im still lost as to how the due process steps were followed under Tx law to properly determine dad is dad. The scientific outcome may be obvious but the steps to get there sure don't appear in OPs postings.....

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It apparently hasn't gotten that far yet.

My fiance and I have been together for two years and will be married in less than a year. Not that it matters, but I didn't date anyone except my fiance since my first son was born. My fiance and I have a nine month old son together. Once we are married, we intend to file the paperwork for adoption. Since the biological father can't afford the child support due to his other financial obligations, we intend to give him the option to sign away his rights. Not only that, he wasn't interested when I was pregnant, nor was he interested after I gave birth. We didn't move home to Texas for another four months. I tried several times to reach out to him and get him to participate in his son's life. The biological father refused to see him and I dropped it. I had a good paying job and was able to afford raising my son until about six months ago when my job did lay-offs. I now make far less than I did and need the assistance until I'm making good money again. I see nothing wrong with a child being raised by someone that loves them and cares. Children shouldn't be forced to be with parents that don't want them.

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Quoting kroenke88

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My fiance and I have been together for two years and will be married in less than a year. Not that it matters, but I didn't date anyone except my fiance since my first son was born. My fiance and I have a nine month old son together. Once we are married, we intend to file the paperwork for adoption. Since the biological father can't afford the child support due to his other financial obligations, we intend to give him the option to sign away his rights. Not only that, he wasn't interested when I was pregnant, nor was he interested after I gave birth. We didn't move home to Texas for another four months. I tried several times to reach out to him and get him to participate in his son's life. The biological father refused to see him and I dropped it. I had a good paying job and was able to afford raising my son until about six months ago when my job did lay-offs. I now make far less than I did and need the assistance until I'm making good money again. I see nothing wrong with a child being raised by someone that loves them and cares. Children shouldn't be forced to be with parents that don't want them.

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Perfect! So you and your fiance will have no problem welcoming Daddy into your lives when he wants to become a solid part of his son's life, correct?

Problem solved. A job well done, I feel!