Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona
Severence of Parental Rights
My question is hopefully pretty simple.Since my divorce my ex conned me into signing a reliquishment of parental rights form.She has used the courts and law enforcement agencies through monetary contributions and accusations to her benefit to get her way.It has been several years since I signed the agreement to sever my rights;1992 to be exact. The agreement stated that upon severence of my parental rights her new husband would adopt our son,change his name, and child support would end. I still pay child support, have not seen my son since he was 3,and she has been through several marriages since.Do I have any recourse to pursue visitation? Do I still have parental rights since I still pay child support? And is there a statute of limitations on filing a severence of parental rights? I would love nothing more than to be a part of my sons life who is now 15 yrs. old. What rights do I have if any? Please help if you can. Sincerely yours, Ted Benton
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Severence of Parental Rights
Your case is not as simple as you might think. Although most civil court case records are open to the public, adoption cases are not. If you can get the information from her, you should ask your ex who, when, where the child was adopted. If she won�t give you the information, you will have to make a special request with the County Court where the child lived. The being no sample forms I can refer you to. You might need to hire an attorney. Maybe you could track down her ex-husbands & they could tell about possible adoptions.
ADDITION THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND: 1. If the child was adopted, your legal duty to provide support ended when someone else became the child�s father. 2. If another legal father exists, you�ve got a big uphill battle that you might not win to have that changed. Especially if the new �legal father� has been a father, paid support (very interesting if mom is receiving double support payments), participated in the child�s life, visits with, communicates with, and generally acts like a dad. 3. If no one has gone through the process to adopt the child, you should be able to revoke your relinquishment. If courts & law enforcement have been involved in enforcing your child support payments, maybe the child has not been adopted. Good Luck.
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