Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: does relinquishing parental rights require court?

A parent cannot give up or bargain away a child's right to support from the other party. Any agreement to waive child support is not enforceable. At best it can be enforced against the parent that made the agreement. But it would not prevent the county collecting child support.

However if the court accepts the relinquishment it can terminate the duty to pay child support. However that is almost always predicated upon the child being adopted.

Re: does relinquishing parental rights require court?

There is no legally binding document that would make a child fatherless. Step-parent adoption is virtually the only way to extinguish the parental right or duty of either parent to their child. It is up to the custodial parent or guardian ad litem to pursue child support, but while there is no mechanism that will force the custodial parent to pursue child support (unless he/she or the child ever become subject to public assistance in the future), neither is there any mechanism that can legally prevent the custodial parent from obtaining a support order.

The legal premise is that the custodial parent has a legal duty to protect the child's right to the support of both of his or her parents, and if the custodial parent fails to protect the child's right, the court theoretically could step in to enforce the child's right. Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, the court does not go around knocking on doors looking for more work to do. So, if no one wakes the sleeping dog, so be it, but don't look for guarantees.