Legal Question in Family Law in California
I want to sign my parental rights away for a child I thought was aborted and didn't want. The mom is trying to get child support now. I have never met the kid nor do I ever intend to.
Asked 11/04/15, 12:13 pm inUnited StatesCaliforniaFamily Law, Divorce, Child Custody and Adoption
1 Answers from Attorneys
Timothy McCormick
Libris Solutions - Dispute Resolution Services
San Francisco, CA
You can't. The law does not allow you to abandon a child you fathered except in the event of a step-parent adoption.
11/04/15, 12:46 pmMark as helpful
I have NEVER fathered that kid. I don't even know him or what his age is. I don't care about him. I don't accept him as mine. His mom said she was aborting and I went to prison at that time and got a letter from her saying she didn't abort it. I didn't want it and was assured she had taken care of it since she KNEW I wasn't going to be apart of her life or the kids life. She wasn't even my girlfriend or anything.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Mr. McCormick's answer still applies and is accurate. You are the biological father and are obligated to support the child whether you want to be a parent or not.
A hard lesson learned is that if you facilitate the introduction of a child into this world, you remain financially responsible for the child.
You misunderstood the meaning of the word "fathered." Although it is used to mean doing the things that father does with a child a the male parent, which I understand you have not done, the actual meaning is being a man who has sex with a woman and it produces a child. If you contest that you are biologically the father, you should talk to a lawyer about challenging paternity, but if you created the child that means you "fathered" it, and you cannot give up your legal rights as a father or escape legal responsibility for the child, unless she marries someone who wants to adopt the child.