Legal Question in Family Law in Colorado
my daughters biological father has NEVER paid child support. My daughter is 11 yrs old.. He has not contacted in more than 7 yrs and showed up on my door step 4 days ago insisting he get to be apart of her life. There was at one time an open case for child support but after so many yrs of child support enforcement not being able to find him I gave up on keeping the case open.. I have through out the years tried to find him myself with no luck.. He found me on face book about 1 month ago.. If his parental rights can be terminated on abandonment, will it still be possible to get child support? Also, I did get state aid in El Paso county CO for several yrs after my daughter was born, does HE have to pay that back to the state?
2 Answers from Attorneys
It would be very hard to terminate his rights. You would however still be entitled to back child support that was ordered and unpaid as that becomes a judgment when due and you can collect 12% interest (the state will not collect the interest but private attorneys like us can and do go after the interest and attorney fees). The state aid would not have to be repaid. We ofter do child support collection on a percentage fee basis with no or little retainer if you want to discuss this further.
You won't be able to terminate his rights unless you have a spouse who is willing to adopt the child. You may be able to pursue back child support for the past 11 years as well as ongoing child support. It would be a good idea to work with an experienced attorney because if you don't file correctly you could lose the ability to obtain back support.
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