Legal Question in Family Law in Idaho

Re: Is it possible for a child to divorce his father?

No. Divorce is a creature of statute and if the statute doesn't

give or grant a right, there isn't one unless there is common (court

made law) that allows a child to support. I know of none.

Since a person under the age of eighteen (18) years is not legally

capable of owning any property the child cannot try to get a court to

order that he is entitled to an asset distribution. There are many things

a child cannot do and this is just one of them.

The only way for the child to be treated as an adult is for the child to

become an emancipated person by marrying, joining the military, or living on his

own, paying his own way without support from his parents or guardians, working, etc.

If you are living as an adult, and you have done so for a substantial period of time,

you are an emancipated person and can own property, etc.

Once a child is adopted, the father has no obligation to support the child

whatsoever. However, the child cannot be adopted until a court has terminated the father's

parental rights for the statutory reasons which are for neglect, abuse, abandonment by the parent,

the parent is unable to discharge parental responsiblities because of mental defect

or deficiency, when consented to in writing by the parent, and when a court finds that it is in

the child's best interests to do so.

If your mother dies, your father has custody, period. There is no way other than your mother filing

to terminate his parental rights on one of the grounds listed above. In addition, the court

might not terminate his rights if there isn't an adult male person willing to take over the

responsibility and adopt you. The father has the right to custody over any other person, including

a guardian, your relatives, your grandparents, etc.

If you want to come in and discuss this, I give a half hour free consultation to see if

you might have a case for termination of his parental rights, but your mother would have

to file the case, you can't. I charge $120 per hour for the work I do.

Re: Is it possible for a child to divorce his father?

I do not practice in your state, and your state law might differ from my state's law. Because your question involves a child, I urge you to consult with an family law attorney in your state. That said, I'll offer some comments:

Kids can't divorce their parents (which is good news given how often they get angry with us when they're older). However, my state law allows one parent to seek termination of the other parent's parental rights (TPR for short) based on lack of support among other reasons. If the court grants the TPR petition, that parent's rights and obligations end. At that point, the child will not be entitled to future support but can still try to collect past due support. So in your case -- and I'm simplifying a lot here -- mom can seek collection of past due support, including seizing dad's property (bank accounts, vehicles, etc.). It's an arduous, often unsatisfying, process.

If a stepdad adopts the child, the stepdad becomes legally responsible for supporting the child and, if mom and adoptive dad separate, adoptive dad will be liable for support just like the biological dad was before the TPR.

The bottom line is this: unless the court grants a TPR, biological dad will be liable for financial support of his child until (in my state) the child is emancipated, turns 18, or graduates high school.

Your second issue was, if something happens to mom, how do you ensure that the dad doesn't end up residential/custodial parent. Mom can appoint a guardian (get an attorney's advice on this). This is not a guarantee that the guardian will become the child's 'custodian.' Dad will have legal standing (the right to) to contest the appointment and ask the court to grant him custody. However, the child and the guardian can argue that dad financially and physically abandoned the child years ago, he and the child do not have a parent-child relationship whereas the guardian and the child do have that kind of relationship (assuming that's true), the child does not desire to live with dad but does desire to live with the guardian, and it is not in the child's best interest to live with the father. And dad might still be liable for current and future financial support unless his rights are terminated at some point.

Again, I urge you to get legal advice on this.