I have a three-year old nephew and his biological father has paid very little child support. He has not paid any child support since Nov. of 2004, so my sister-in-law filed the papers agaist him. He was recently arrested and brought to our parish (yes it's in Louisiana). Support enforcement said they would waive their case, about $10,000 in child support, if he would give up his parental rights, which is what we all want any way. This is in case anything ever happens to my sister-in-law, we don't want to have any problems adopting him, since he's basically a son to us anyway. The papers to do this were drawn up by a legal secretary and filed by a lawyer, but the judge denied the loss of paternity, stating that this is not a valid reason to give up paternty, despite the fact that he hasn't paid in over two years, does not have a job, and hasn't had anything to do with his son, ever.
Part of the deal was that she forgave the debt in order for him to give up his paternity rights. My questions are, is this even a normal deal offerred to people who don't pay child support in Louisiana and the ruling just wasn't normal? Was my sister-in-law advised legally in a bad way? Because she signed off forgivin the debt, does this mean that it is forgiven, even though the judge ruled against it? and should she seek additional legal counsel and appeal the ruling?
Any help on this is appreciated!

