A Second Father

Here's the situation in Texas...My boyfriend found out last June that the mother of his child was allowing the child to call her boyfriend "Daddy". I have been in the child's life as long as her boyfriend and we have gone out of our way to make sure the child knows that I am not "Mommy". In November we found out that the mother was still allowing this to occur b/c she thought it would confuse the child to correct her and since the boyfriend has been in the child's life for over a year and sees her more (because of the custody agreement) that he deserves to take the role of "Daddy" over the birth father. My boyfriend has been unable to develop the father-daughter type relationship with his child because of the actions of the mother and boyfriend. He has spoke with the mother about his feelings and she has blown him off and the custody agreement to allow him more time with his daughter cannot be modified for another 8 months. Is there any legal grounds or avenue he can take to be able to establish a relationship with his daughter while preventing the mother and boyfriend from interfereing in it?

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Quoting missjc

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Here's the situation in Texas...My boyfriend found out last June that the mother of his child was allowing the child to call her boyfriend "Daddy". I have been in the child's life as long as her boyfriend and we have gone out of our way to make sure the child knows that I am not "Mommy". In November we found out that the mother was still allowing this to occur b/c she thought it would confuse the child to correct her and since the boyfriend has been in the child's life for over a year and sees her more (because of the custody agreement) that he deserves to take the role of "Daddy" over the birth father. My boyfriend has been unable to develop the father-daughter type relationship with his child because of the actions of the mother and boyfriend. He has spoke with the mother about his feelings and she has blown him off and the custody agreement to allow him more time with his daughter cannot be modified for another 8 months. Is there any legal grounds or avenue he can take to be able to establish a relationship with his daughter while preventing the mother and boyfriend from interfereing in it?

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Does he have visitation? If so, does he utilize the time with the child?

He can try to have that put in the order when it is up for modification, however there is no REAL way to enforce an order that tells a child that they cannot call someone 'Daddy'.

As far as interfering in the father-daughter relationship, if she is interefering in his visitation time with the child, tell him to file contempt charges against her.

He has a standard custody order with visitation every other weekend and he is extremely involved with her. She is only 2 1/2, however, we have noticed a huge change in her attitude towards him ever since the boyfriend has decided he is Dad. The daughter has always been excited about seeing her father when it is his visitation time, however, the last 2 months she has been withdrawn from him and acts like he is a stranger even though he has been in her life even before she was born. Her behavior hasn't been a result of any of his actions. He is a great father and loves his daughter but the bond they had has been damaged by the boyfriend. The mother has basically told him that the boyfriend is the "father" because he spends the most time with her which isn't the fault of my boyfriend. Can he petition to have more visitation with his child since his relationship with his daughter is clearly suffering from only being able to be together 4 days a month?

Yes, he could petition the court for more time. Whether or not the judge will grant it is a different story.

Do they live fairly close to each other?

They live 15 minutes apart.