Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona

Is it considered Child Abandonment when the father of the child hasn't seen, talked to, or supported the child in any way for more than 6 months at a time? My son's father and I were never married, he moved out here in '08 I would take my son over to see him after about 4 months of trying to establish regular visits he told me he didn't want my son or I to come over anymore. On occasion he would see my son at work parties, but then from May of '09 til May of '10 he dropped off the face of the earth. Then his parents moved out here and started demanding to see my son and for the last year he showed up for 7 visits. From November '10 til middle of June '11 he dropped out of the picture again. He suddenly served me with court papers in the end of May '11 after his father and mother threatened to take me to court if I didn't allow them to take my son. As stated earlier my son's father has never paid any child support or even contacted me to see him for the last two years, its only been through his mother.

Is it child abandonment? Would I have a chance if I asked the courts for sole custody and supervised visitation only?


Asked on 8/15/11, 12:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joan Bundy Joan Bundy Law

Yes, it is abandonment. It only takes 6 months to establish abandonment. Then you can file for termination of parental rights. That means no custody, no visitation, but also no support. Oftentimes, though, it is the only real, permanent solution to an ongoing problem of inconsistency or non-involvement with a child or children. If the court grants this, and it seems highly likely they would, then paternal grandma and grandpa, by extension, would have no rights to the child unless you decided to give them some visitation. Best of luck!

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Answered on 8/15/11, 5:01 pm


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