Child Support

A parent is the biological or legally adoptive mother or father. If you have lost custody of your child you are still the child's parent in that sense. If you have allowed your child to be legally adopted you may not be in their life but you are still their parent in that sense. In a legal sense you can no longer make any decisions for the child and have no parental rights.

some have done it, but it's not recommended. see links below ADDED: The questioner does not make clear if they are the parent, or the minor, that is asking the question. If you are the parent - see the above answer - if you are the minor - no, you cannot.

With the case backlog, it could take months, so file early. see link below

IF you have a legitimate court order granting you visitation you can enforce it at the mother's home with a police escort. You cannot take them out of the country, however, unless the mother consents or your custody/visitation order states that you can. If you disagree with this you need to file for a custody/visitation hearing in her state and county. You can go to the pro se (meaning to defend yourself) website for her state and do most of it online, you could even have someone you know here stateside file it in court for you to get a hearing, however you NEED to be at the hearing. Your other option would be to hire an attorney in her state and county and she can go to court on your behalf (with some required paperwork) and try to get the order modified. Through personal experience and working with hundreds of court cases I never suggest that you allow a judge to make a decision so serious that will affect your life until your youngest is 18 without you at least giving the judge your side of the story.

This depends on a number of factors. The age of a child has a lot to do with parental rights. The divorce or separation degree may already have specific information about this topic. It would be best to hire an attorney or mediator to help work this out for you.

If this refers to the unborn child the laws of the state where the child is born would apply. Generally the unmarried mother regardless of her age has full automatic custody of the child except under extraordinary circumstances. If the mother is unmarried and the father wishes to share custody he must first establish paternity (usually through DNA testing), even though he claims to be the father.

Yes. Child custody is decided on what's best for the child. So if its best for the child to go with him/her, then that is what the judge will decide. * It's possible, but the non custodial parent will still have to be notified of the proceedings and given the opportunity to object to the act. Considering the cited circumstances that hardly seems fair, but it is, in the US the law.

Yes, as an adult you can sue a noncustodial parent for back child support. However it is a different story if the noncustodial parent has never been ordered to pay child support. You can still sue them for a percentage of their assets. I am currently working on a case in which my client is sueing his father for 15 years of back child support. Any divorce lawyer can handle this case for you.

You need to go to court to modify your child support agreement. Yes, as long as your old agreement hasn't been modified, she can legally collect child support from you. There may be provisions in your support agreement by which your children do not have to reside with her, especially if the money is still going toward their support. The court probably won't make your ex-wife pay back the money, but it will give you credit for having paid it.

Custodial rights in any US state depends largely on the individual circumstances surrounding a dispute and the judge's interpretation of such. Generally the main contributing factors in the decision are. the ages of the children involved, the extent the non custodial parent and other relatives (grandparents, etc.) are currently involved with the children, the purpose of the relocation, and the plans for transportation of the children for visitation purposes. There are no certainties in such situtation. But a move when it pertains to the parent retaining their employment status does carry a considerable amount of weight in the matter.

All US states honor and enforce child support orders issued by another state. The obligated parent is still bound by the terms of the support order regardless of his or her state of residency. The same actions can be taken to enforce the order in the state where the non custodial parent resides as would be possible in the state where the original order was issued.

This depends on a couple of things, the state you are in and what your court order says.

If the child is living full time with one parent it is the other parent who pays child support. However, if the child is living with the father for the summer (summer possession) the father will still continue to pay the mother child support even though the child temporarily is living with the father. The reason for this is the mother still has bills that are keeping the house and such for the child to come back too.

The only way a father will not have to pay is if the court order says that during summer possession the father does not have to pay child support, but normally in this case the mother would not be obligated to pay child support to the father.

However in the end, people should do what is best for the children and not worry about the dollars they receive or don't receive.

Generally, if the parents are unmarried the mother has sole custody and control in most states until the father can establish his paternity. Remember, a child's mother can always be identified by medical records. Since the father didn't give birth and he was not legally married at the time of the birth he must establish his paternity by signing the birth certificate at the time of birth (waiving DNA testing rights) which must be done with mother's consent. If he doesn't sign the birth certificate then he must seek another way to establish his paternity and that is done through a DNA test. A paternity test can be arranged through the court and once established the father can request visitations, custody and set up a schedule of regular child support payments for the child.

A termination of parental rights petition can be filed in the appropriate state court where the child lives.

Whether the petition will be granted depends upon the presiding judge. The decision is based upon the best interest of the child and not the preference of any involved party. Therefore a petition can be granted in full relieving the parent of all obligations including financial ones, be granted with specified terms, or be denied.

A full TPR petition is seldom granted for any reason other than for the child to become eligible for adoption.

A TPR request is not intended to be used as a legal way to avoid personal responsibility.

It an issue that can be raised with the court in determining what affect if any this may be having on the child.

Depends on state\province usually you would call your local police station and they will complete a form and tell you the proper steps.

As regards establishing your financial responsibility, you would file in your state. Filing in the other state would grant them jurisdiction over child support, though you might wish to evaluate the difference in state laws. If you live in Washington, you are obligated to pay for a college education. When child support stops varies from state to state. see links for help

A biological parent is automatically the legal guardian of his or her minor child unless they voluntarily relinquish parental rights or the court terminates those rights to their child. Temporary custodial/visitation/support issues are decided at the time divorce papers are filed, the permanent decisions are finalized at the time the divorce decree is granted.

In most cases child support ends at the age of majority, which in all but four states is 18. Alabama and Nebraska 19 and Mississippi and Pennsylvania 21. However, the support order issued by the court is the order that must be followed even if it is conflict with the state statutes pertaining to the issue at hand. Many child support orders include stipulations as to the child leaving the custodial parents home and responsibilities of the parents in regards to educational issues.

The mother must be of course. Yet, if the father can not be then no, or if you don't want the father to sign he does not have to.

In Michigan when a child is born the mother fills out a form. The mother is asked if she is married and instructed based on her answer what information is needed. Paternity is established through court. If you are married or the father accepts paternity it is a legal matter. I'm still amazed at people stating the father signed the birth certificate. In Michigan there is no place on the certificate for any signature outside of the doctors.

Probably legal fees and the back child support (if any) that you owe. * TPR petitions are not for the purpose of a parent to be relieved of obligations to their minor children. The judge makes the decision as to whether or not a TPR will be granted and to what extent. Such matters are decided on what is in the best interest of the child and not on the preference of parents or any other interested party. A TPR petition cannot be filed when there are arrearages in child support that has been ordered by the court.