Legal Question in Family Law in Colorado
Parenting Time for Parents without contact with Child
My husband and I currently live in NJ, and have custody of his 10 year old child. The mother, which he was never married to, abandoned the child when he was a year old. He has been living with us for the past 5 years. Last year, the mother requested visitation, which through mediation it was agreeg to have supervised visitation every other weekend to re-establish a relationship. The mother only appeared once to the supervised visitation and never showed up again. The child is now 10, and only knows her from the one visit last year. We are planning on moving to CO this spring, and we are looking to find out what the parental rights are of a mother that basically has abandoned her child. Will she be allowed parenting time (summer break and holidays) even if we reside in a different state? If so, can an inspection be done of the mother's housing, to ensure it is the proper environment for the child? The child has had two major illinesses, and cannot be in contact with cigarette smoke (the mother smokes) and has to go for blood work monthly to check for kidney failure. What rights does the mother have, since she has not seen her child but 4 hours in the psat 5 years (documented by the court)?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Parenting Time for Parents without contact with Child
If the Mother were to request parenting time, the situation would be very similar to what took place in New Jersey. Because of the lack of contact, more than likely any parenting time would be of short duration (no overnights), and supervised in order to re-establish the relationship. If she were to continue in that for some time on a regular basis, she may be able to request overnights, but she wouldn't be granted that right away.
It is possible to adopt the child if the Mother hasn't had contact or paid child support within the last year. In that event, the Mother would not have any parenting time rights. If you are interested in this option, I would urge you to contact an attorney of your choosing in order to assist you with this procedure.
Hope this helps!
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