Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

Re: Child relinquishment

If its an Arizona matter, we can absolutely help.

I can explain the issues and procedures better by phone or in person. As you can imagine, there is too much to cover via e'mail. We offer free 1/2 hour consultations, in which we can discuss the matter in more detail.

Please call me directly to discuss the specifics of your case, or contact my assistant Tasha or my paralegal Alicia to schedule a free 1/2 hour consultation. 602x254x7251

Carlie Owsley Walker

Re: Child relinquishment

The choice to have the baby is yours alone. You also have the right to seek child support, and the father can't "sue" you for doing so. You can also choose to not include him - e.g. do not name him on the birth certificate, do not file a paternity or child support action, etc. The statute states that when a child is born to unmarried parents, the parent who the child has resided with for the greater part of the last 6 months has custody, so you would automatically have sole custody.

There's nothing the father can sign before the child is born; however, after the birth, there are a couple things you can do: 1) the two of you can sign an agreement that he has no custody/parenting time rights, and no child support obligation. 2) when you marry someone in the future, if he wants to adopt your child, the bio father can sign a consent to allow that adoption to proceed. He can't technically "terminate" his own rights, but if he doesn't assert his rights in the first place, it is basically the same thing.