Please Help Me! Serious Parental Rights Question

[Lgeme84]

A very close friend of mine has been through hell dealing with his ex girlfriend not letting him see his daughter for the last 3 years. I won't go through the nitty gritty details, but he got these papers in the mail a few months ago dealing with him signing his rights away. Since his ex doesn't let him see his daughter or even send him pictures and he still must pay child support, he has held onto the papers for a few months trying to make a decision.
He is afraid that if he signs his rights away he won't be his daughters legal father anymore AND he will still have to pay child support. He was a good father to his daughter before him and his ex broke it off, he's the most gentle guy I could ever know. So it's not like his ex won't let him see his daughter because he's abusive or anything. She's just a very bitter person and I don't think that's right that she is keeping his daughter from him.

ANYWAYS, he just told me that he signed the papers today and sent them back to Florida(where his ex lives) he currently lives in Illinois.
Now, it would seem to me that if he signs his parental rights away, he severs all ties to his daughter, including last name, any decisions dealing with his daughter and child support as well. His ex is remarried and is very well off financially. (Also, my friend told me that if he signs his rights away, it's up to her new husband to actually sign adoption papers for my friend's daughter, but if he does not do that, my friend could still be stuck with absolutely NO rights but still have to pay his ex money that she doesn't even use for their daughter anyways)
Can anyone tell me what it actually means to sign rights away, if it does in fact include severing child support from my friend?

Any information would be great.
Thanks.

 

[Lgeme84]

Oh also, I did want to mention that he has been struggling financially for awhile now, but has still been able to make payments as much as he possibly can. His ex(whom he wasn't married to), has enough money so that she doesn't have to work a day in her life, which leads my friend to think his money just goes to her partying and not to his daughter.
He does have a lawyer, but is limited to what he can do, considering his money situation. He is NOT giving up his rights soley so he doesn't have to pay C.S. He does want what is best for his daughter and that, to him, is a father who is around and can help support his daughter.

Also, his ex is the one who sent him the papers to sign over his rights, so it is not something he actively pursued, it's something SHE wants HIM to do, but he is afraid she's going to scam him into giving away all his rights to his daughter but still have the obligation and responsibility of child support.
(ok well I think that's basically it...just trying to let you guys know he isn't a bad guy or anything...hell, this whole situation basically runs his life).

 

[superpowers]

he wont have to pay her a dime, because she will legally now not be his daughter. nor will he have any rights to her whatsoever.

 

[Duranie]

If he terminates his rights, child support is stopped and he becomes a legal stranger to the child.

He needs to see an attorney and file contempt charges if he doe not want to do this. If hehas not seen his daughter in 3 years, why hasn't he gone to court sooner? Rights cannot be terminated without his consent, even though he has not seen the child, he still pays child support so it is not considered abandonment.

So he does not have to consent to this but if he is going to complain she does not let him see his child, he needs to see an attorney and file contempt charges. Hopefully he has documented when he has tried to contact her. also who moved? If she moved out of state without his permission and again, he did not dispute it through the courts, he is partially to blame.