My exhusband wants to give me my daugther for ever and never come arround in exchange he will be debt free and never pay childsupport again. And I want to do it, is this legally possible?
2007-07-29 02:49:37 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
You need to check with your lawyer, but in most states this agreement would not be legal. The right to child support is owned by your daughter, not by you, and as long as she's a minor she doesn't have the right to waive it. The issue of visitation is a different one. He has a separate right to visitation even if he is financially unable to pay child support.
In short, you're talking about a possibly legally unenforceable agreement, in which he abandons his daughter as long as you don't try to collect whatever support is due. Whether it's morally enforceable and if you can trust him to abide by your arrangement is going to be a big question, right?
Another question for your lawyer is how long your daughter has to collect back-child support if you try to enter into this agreement. You don't want to find out that you didn't enforce child support from him for 10-years, for example, and then he shows up in year 11 but you lost your claim for the old support. Otherwise, you lose any leverage that he may perceive in this deal.
I know you didn't ask, but you also need to weigh how your daughter will view this arrangement when she is older. She may not consider it a good deal at all. You might be better off seeking supervised visitation and child support. Then if he doesn't visit -- no excuses. If he doesn't pay child support -- no excuses. It may be easier for your daughter to understand than if she wrongfully concludes in the anger of adolescence that you traded her right to financial support and a Daddy to get him out of your life, not hers.
2007-07-29 03:06:57 · answer #1 · answered by Neonzeus 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
QUESTION: "Is it possible to make a legal contract to give up parental rights in exchange of never pay child support?"
ANSWER: You can contract for ANYTHING, but the contract may not be enforceable.
Courts view child support according to a "best interest of the child" standard, and child support and visitation are 2 separate issues.
Find a lawyer. Find one who has a free first consultation. Go to more than one if you don't understand what they tell you. If you cannot afford a lawyer, go online and find "free legal services" or "legal aid" in your state or county and call to speak to a lawyer there for free. See if your county court has a child support enforcement division - it should be located in the same office where they take women seeking restraining orders. Or look online for law schools in your state, and see if they have a "Family Law Clinic". At the least, go to the bookstore and read some books on child support and child support enforcement. Or try the link posted below for the Administration for Children and Families for more info.
People make these agreements all the time, I'm sure. Just don't let it backfire on you and your child.
* * * If you make this agreement, get it in writing just in case you need to show it to the Court one day. You don't want him to claim that you kept the child from him. If you do this, get it in writing so the Court can see that he did not want to see his child, and that he was willing to trade his child for money.
Good luck.
Be smart.
2007-07-29 04:50:46 · answer #2 · answered by Andrea 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Probably not. He's the biological father and could change his mind in years to come. Were I you, I'd tell him that you won't press him to fulfill his obligation of child support as long as he doesn't come around. Let the child support debt continue to grow, let him abandon the child as you'd like and then if he ever comes around again you can threaten him with collecting the past due child support. If he knows that you have that ammo you may never see him again which sounds like that's what you're hoping for anyway. That's the only legal recourse that I think you have.
2007-07-29 02:55:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have heard of cases where one parent gave up parental rights in a "no child support" agreement. You will need to talk to a GOOD LAWYER, You don't want to end up in a situation where he is free from child support and fights for visitation or custody. And if you are receiving any type of assistance ( food stamps, state medical, wel-fare, housing or child care assistance) Then you probably won't be able to do this because the state will force him to help with the support of the child. Good luck!
2007-07-29 03:04:15 · answer #4 · answered by Robin L 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you can make one but courts may not honor it expecially if you ever go on any type of public assistance..oh and if he gives up his parental rights it doesn't protect him form paying child support either..a person without parental rights can still be ordered to pay child support the only sure fire way to not have to pay child support is if another man were to adopt the child
2007-07-29 03:02:33 · answer #5 · answered by little78lucky 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most states will only allow this if there is someone who is willing to adopt the child like your new husband, otherwise the court will not allow him to relinquish his rights.
2007-07-29 03:09:18 · answer #6 · answered by Faye Prudence 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋