Can Step Fathers have rights of a child signed over

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austinchek

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I got with my wife when she was 2 months pregnant. The baby is not of my blood, but dont tell me that:) The problem is is that the last 2 and a half years she has been running aroun and just found uot that she has commited adultry 4 times. She hardly ever comes over to see the boy,Austin. When she does is all she does is yell at him. I have not adopted him yet,i no stupid me, but i am about to start the prcess. As of now she just jumped state for a few days and decided to leave me for this guy. Fine, but i want all rights on the child. Is that possible? In actuallity can she sign off her rights to me like she said she would? She cannot take care of this child and she no's i can for i have since the rascal was born.
 
austinchek said:
I got with my wife when she was 2 months pregnant. The baby is not of my blood, but dont tell me that:) The problem is is that the last 2 and a half years she has been running aroun and just found out that she has commited adultry 4 times. She hardly ever comes over to see the boy,Austin. When she does is all she does is yell at him. I have not adopted him yet,i no stupid me, but i am about to start the process. As of now she just jumped state for a few days and decided to leave me for this guy. Fine, but i want all rights on the child. Is that possible? In actuallity can she sign off her rights to me like she said she would? She cannot take care of this child and she no's i can for i have since the rascal was born.
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this is very hard on me i gave up my life for the family life and if the law wont let me have custody over my child i dont no what i'll do.
 
One more thing

The childs biological father ran away when he found out wife was pregnant he has never tried to contact but we have to get him to sign off his rights. Even though he's not on the birth certificate. Is ther anyway that i culd simply get my name on it?He simply does not want anything to do with the child, he also is on disability for mental issues will that mean anything in the court of law in case he changes his mind(which i assure you is very doubtfull)
 
were you married at the time your wife gave birth? If so you are the legal father of that child. If you were not married, did you sign an acknowledgement of paternity?

We need more info before we can tell you what rights you have to the child if you divorce.
 
yes we were married

we were married before she gave birth to the child. so that means im the legal father and she can sign her rights off to me???? please tell me yes:)
 
Your post said your wife was married to someone else when you met. Explain that? Did she divorce him then marry you, then have the baby or what?

Are you listed as the boys father on the birth cert? If you were married to the mother at the time of the birth, then ins most states you are recognized as the legal father. If you were not married to her at the time of birth or she was married to someone else, then you have a problem.

She cannot sign over her rights to you. .

Now why in the world do you think you can terminate her rights? Get real, if you are unahppy in the marriage, then see an attorney and file for divorce. If you are listed as the boys father on the birth cert and you are the only father that child knows, you likely have some rights. You have no business trying to take away this boys mother. Are you going to be able to get custody? nobody knows but you need to see an attorney. File for divorce and/or visitation or custody. If you have been the childs primary caregiver through the marriage then you have a shot at custody but just because she has cheated on you, that does not mean she loses custody.

Your best bet is to see an attorney.

The bio dad does not sound like he is invovled at all and he has waited way too long to dispute paternity to it is very likely he does not matter anyways.
 
confuse you?

ok here's the deal. when i got with wife she was 2 months pregnant and the bio dad skipped town. she was not married. and i married her shortly after baby was born, was simply engaged very early on. I am not trying to strip her of her rights. i have been primary caregiver the childs whole life. she wants to sign over rights to me cause she knows it would hurt the kid more then anyone if she took him from me. i told her she can see him whenever she wants and we'll gte the visitation sorted out, she does not want the responsibility of having this child. I on the other hand have dealt with and wanted resonsibility of him. So, Dorine the big question is , can she sign guardianship over to me, she wants to.I have made a few calls to attorneys and they say that guardianship should not be a problem for me. I am not some guy that simply thought "oh i would like this child it will be a neat experience". She is a unfitt mother and she knows it. So do you think guardianship is possible? We want to wait for a divorce untill after I adopt him, that will make things much easier but untill then I want guardianship and she wants me to have it. And if that wasnt enough for u :) heres another question. She is pregnant one month or more. we have tryed to have a baby before and could never concieve. I dont think its mine. However i told her every month i would buys clothes and other needed things in case it is mine. She is being difficult, She says that even if it is mine she wont allow my last name to be the childs. This seems unfair, and very ilegall. If the kid is mine i want it to have my name, and i will want the child also for like i said she is unfitt and irresponsible. What say u to tis?:mad:
 
birth cert

no one is on the birth cert. is it possible for me to be put on it? if it is possible does that give me any additional rights?:confused:
 
Ok your story is confusing but I think I have it sorted out.

It sounds like the father, legally, is unknown.

You might be able to get guardianship of the child, but the mother cannot turn her rights over. She does not know what she is talking about and obviously has not seen an attorney.

You are probably not going to be able to adopt the child after a divorce. Did you ask your attorney about that? That is usually not done. You should have adopted the child earlier on, not when you want to divorce the mother. Make sense?

If by some how she is able to terminate rights, which she probably is not able too, BUT if she is, she is then a legal strnager to the child and it makes NO SENSE whatsoever to allow visitation with her. You will only confuse the child, and the termination of her rights legally cannot happen due to the fact she is the only legal parent this child has.

She is the boys mother, she should help you support the child.

Are you sure she is pregnant? Unless you are sure this baby is yours, I would not get to attached to it. She is probably not able to get a divorce while prego, you can file, but it likely will not be finalized and you need to make sure you put in your paperwork she is pregnant, but paternity is being disputed. As soon as the baby is born, you need to petition the courts for a DNA test, unless you are willing to take responsibility for a baby that is not even yours. Since you are married to her, you are the presumed father if she gives birth while married, so you must ask for a DNA test as soon as the baby is born. The law only gives you 30-60 days to dispute paternity when you are married, after the baby is born.

Did you tell your attorney she is pregnant and you are not sure if it is yours? You should be asking your attorney these questions. You have a real potential huge mess on your hands.
 
have an appointment with attorney

i have an appointment tommorrow, 1000 buks ouch. it is for guardianship. says that i need a lawyer for all the paper work and legal matters. But it sounds like i will be able to get guardianship!:) Even if guardianship means that i dont hae to let her see the child, i will not let the boy grow up not seeing his mother. He will have ties to her even though she isnt exactly my favorite person in the world right now. I will not get ataached to the unborn child simply because i will not be seeing her much, only if she want to see the boy. Guardianship to stepfather,sound reasonable? we are not gettin divorced untill after adoption. You say since bio dad has willingly not wanted to see or have anything to do with child he is no threat in the adoption? May sound like a stupid question but does she have to be at the attorneys office with me tommorrow? Im not trying to pull a fast one on her ar anything of the sort, but i would like to ask some questons about the unborn child that u recommended.Please understand this, im not trying to pester u or argue wtih u durraine, its just this, the 2 and a half year old boy THAT I HAVE RAISED means the world to me and i cannot lose him, i would be lost. Wife knows this also and does not share the amount of love i have for boy and that is why she is willing to do this. What is this about cant get a divorce if she may be pregnant with my child?? Does that go for the state of michigan?Duirane u have been being a HUGE help:) i thank u very much, please keep responding.
 
Please be advised, I am not an attorney.

Write down all your questions so that the attorney can answer them for you.

The mother does not have to be with you, if she wants to come with you then that is her choice.

Most states do not do divorces while a spouse is pregnant because it just complicates matters and leaves the door open for who the legal father is, and child support. In most states the husband is the automatic legal father of an unborn child, so doing a divorce while pregnant leaves many things open.

There is no name on the birth cert, and paternity has not been established on the 2 year old, so technically, if the bio dad does show up out of nowhere wanting to established paternity, that could be a problem. He does have rights. Since mom left his name off the birth cert, and you were not married at the time of birth, that does leave the legal father in question. Did you sign any paterbnity paperwork at the time of birth?

The problem here is although you might be the only dad the child has known, you legally have no rights, right now anyways, since paternity has not been established, and you are not declared the boys legal father.

ask all these questions to the attorney.
 
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