Can You Regain Parental Rights That You Voluntarily Surrendered

Is it possible for my ex-husband to regain parental rights of our son after he voluntarily surrendered his rights 2 years ago? We divorced 3 years ago and he surrendered his rights the year after to stop child support. Both took place in Georgia. Thanks in advance for info!

Did the court strip him of his parental rights or was this simply he agreed to not assert his parental rights?

He agreed to it. It wasn't forced by the court. He voluntarily signed the papers to surrender his parental rights.

I didn't ask if he was forced. I asked if the state stripped him of his parental rights. You cannot simply give up your parental rights. You can agree to not challenge the state stripping you of them but the fact is, the state is still stripping you of your rights.

Additionally you don't get to give up your parental rights just to be excused from paying child support so, I'll try again;

what was the reason his parental rights were stripped from him?

or were the courts even involved?

He signed the termination paperwork and my lawyer filed it with the court and a judge signed off on it. The reason listed was that he was not able to maintain a relationship with the child because of the distance and that I would not seek child support.

I Suspect his rights were not terminated. You don't get to just give up your rights. They have to be removed by the courts, not acknowledged by the courts as you describe here. A court has to have a reason for the termination and it has to be in the best interest of the child. Preventing a custodian parent from seeking child support is not only not in the best interest of the child, it is just the opposite. It would be cutting off a possible means of support as well as simply losing a parent.


If it is nothing more than an agreement between the parents then the father can seek to reestablish contact with the child.

If ihe was actuslly stripped of his parental rights, he could seek to have that court ruling overturned. His chances of success are impossible to determine since it would be based on the situation that allowed the original order. Generally they are not overturned unless there was some error in the process of stripping him of his rights.

K thanks

I realized a typo

i meant to say I suspect his rights were NOT terminated.

You will have to refer to the court files to verify what actuslly happened.

The court papers are for termination of parental rights.

Ok fine but your description of the situation does reflect a situation that would cause the court to remove his parental rights. Courts do not terminate parental rights just becaus the parents agree to it

Here is a bit of explanation

Quote:

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In Georgia, there are three main reasons why a father or mother’s parental rights may be terminated:

1. The parent or parents’ consent to the termination of rights in order to facilitate an adoption. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-94(b)(1) and 19-8-4, et seq.

2. A parent has wantonly and willfully failed to comply with an order obligating that parent to pay child support for a period of 12 months or longer. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-94(b)(2).

3. The parent or parents have abandoned the child, or the child was left in a circumstance that renders it impossible to determine the identity of the child’s parent(s), and the parent(s) do not come forward to claim the child within three months from the time the child was found abandoned. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-94(b)(3).

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if you notice none of the laws allow a termination simply because the parents wish to do so. To terminate parental rights the state or the other parent has to file suit to terminate those rights. I read no hint of that in your posts.

Ya see, the fact the father signed some paper and your lawyer filed it really screams this was not a court ordered termination.

But to take it further; who filed suit to terminate his rights and what was the actual legal basis for that suit?