Terminating parental rights?

Mscanlon45

New Member
Jurisdiction
Colorado
I had a child in September and the father is not listed on the birth certificate so he currently has no legal rights. He has agreed in writing to not be involved in any aspect of our sons life, but I'm not sure if I should file a legal termination. I was legally married to another man at the time, but we had been separated for over a year at he time of conception. I don't want my sons father to try and establish paternity in the future and then have rights to our son after not being involved in the early years of his life. He currently has a warrant out and is evading arrest, and also has a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Would it be in my and my sons best interests to go ahead and establish paternity to remove his rights, or just leave it be? Thank you for any advice!
 
Would it be in my and my sons best interests to go ahead and establish paternity to remove his rights, or just leave it be? Thank you for any advice!


Your husband is the putative father of the child.
Your paramour has nothing to relinquish as he as unrelated to the child as am I.

I suggest you discuss this matter with an attorney and your husband.
I'm certain he'd love to hear about his newest offspring and lawful issue of your marriage.
 
My former husband is completely aware of the situation with my son, as we are on very good terms. I understand my sons biological father isn't legally bound to him now, I'm just more concerned of him trying to claim rights in the future. So is my ex husband considered the legal father (even though he lives 1800 miles away and we had no physical contact whileseparated), and would he have to relinquishrights for my sons father to claim rights then?
 
Putative Father can file to establish his rights at any time. Putative Father cannot sign away rights he does not have now, nor can he sign away his rights if he does pursue them in court.
 
The child's "actual" Father may pursue parental rights at any time as stated. This written document you mention cannot prevent that.
 
My former husband is completely aware of the situation with my son, as we are on very good terms. I understand my sons biological father isn't legally bound to him now, I'm just more concerned of him trying to claim rights in the future. So is my ex husband considered the legal father (even though he lives 1800 miles away and we had no physical contact whileseparated), and would he have to relinquishrights for my sons father to claim rights then?


You weren't DIVORCED when you birthed the little dude.

Legally your husband at the time is the kid's putative pappy.

Your side piece dude is legally nothing to you or the kid.

Side piece dudes RARELY volunteer to become putative pappy's and get stuck for child support.

Let us be honest here, side piece dude disappeared right after you said you were seeded.

He hasn't been back, won't be back, and doesn't care about you or the kid.

That leaves your husband as putative pappy.

Side piece dude is hittin' 'em, quittin' 'em, and not asking questions or making commitments.


What you do now is up to you, just as what you did then.

Choose wisely.
 
I had a child in September and the father is not listed on the birth certificate so he currently has no legal rights. He has agreed in writing to not be involved in any aspect of our sons life, but I'm not sure if I should file a legal termination. I was legally married to another man at the time, but we had been separated for over a year at he time of conception. I don't want my sons father to try and establish paternity in the future and then have rights to our son after not being involved in the early years of his life. He currently has a warrant out and is evading arrest, and also has a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Would it be in my and my sons best interests to go ahead and establish paternity to remove his rights, or just leave it be? Thank you for any advice!

Your husband is the legal father - the biological father can try to establish rights if he wanted to yes.

You can't remove his rights after establishing them. That's not how it works.
 
the father is not listed on the birth certificate so he currently has no legal rights.

He has no enforceable legal rights, but it's not because his name isn't on the birth certificate.

He has agreed in writing to not be involved in any aspect of our sons life, but I'm not sure if I should file a legal termination.

There's no such thing as "fil[ing] a legal termination," and his written statement that he won't be "involved" is legally meaningless.

I was legally married to another man at the time, but we had been separated for over a year at he time of conception.

Does this mean you're no longer married? If so, when did you file for divorce, and when did the divorce become final. Under Colorado law, if the child was born during the marriage or within 300 days after the termination of the marriage, your (ex?) husband is presumed to be the child's father.

I don't want my sons father to try and establish paternity in the future and then have rights to our son after not being involved in the early years of his life.

To be blunt: too bad. You should have thought of this before choosing to have a child with this man.

Would it be in my and my sons best interests to go ahead and establish paternity to remove his rights, or just leave it be?

Folks on a message board obviously have no way of knowing what is and isn't in your best interests, but the only way you can have this man's rights terminated is if someone else wants to adopt the child. Of course, if no one takes action to rebut the presumption that your (ex?) husband is the father, then that presumption will become irrebutable, and the man whom you claim to be the biological father will never have rights (unless he adopts the child).
 
Thank you all for your help! I guess I really just didn't understand his rights as opposed to mine, especially with the ex husband aspect. I honestly don't think bio father will come back around but I definitely wanted to know my options if he decides to. Knowing he doesn't have any rights without establishing paternity puts my mind at ease. I appreciate everyone's feedback! :)
 
That kid, if paternity is proven is gonna cost side piece dude money.
Don't worry about him coming around to see a kid he doesn't know, which will cost him money.

Do what you wanna do, just like you been doing.
 
Bottom line is that you can't ever be guaranteed that this guy you created a child with won't one day decide he wants to pursue his rights. You also can not guarantee that the kid won't ask questions or want to know his father either. If you ever file for government assistance or meet the man of your dreams and he wants to adopt this kid you are going to have to deal with this dude. This is the guy you chose to create a child with. That choice had serious consequences.
 
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