Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana
What to do about an unfit non custodial parent
I'll try and keep it as simple as possible. The parent in question denied fathering the child up until their birth, refused to sign the birth certificate numerous times. Hasn't paid an ounce of child support, visits the child sometimes, but usually just sits the baby in a swing and watches tv. He has a history of drug use, mental problems, and was molested by his sister. The baby is now 7 1/2 months and he's trying to get paternity and custody so he can see the baby outside of the mother's home. The father doesn't have a job and lives in a small trailor with his mother, who also has a history of drug use and has even sold drugs to the father in question. The mother of the baby is frantic and does not want him to have her alone and outside her home. She's only kept things up this long to avoid him taking her to court. What should she do? She fears her baby is in danger. How can she prove him unfit?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: What to do about an unfit non custodial parent
Should the father prove paternity, they will have to go before the court to get visitation if she objects. She will have a chance to be heard, and at that time she can raise the issues she has. She can even request that the father have supervised visitation for the safety of the child. It will then be up to the Judge if he's allowed to visit the child until he's received treatment, and or if the father will agree to supervised visitation. If what you state to be true, he should either clean up; only have visitation supervised by the court, or he will not want to go through all the trouble and leave her alone.
Re: What to do about an unfit non custodial parent
What a terrible situation. Here's the good news, you do not have to prove that he is unfit. Rather, you have to prove that it is in the best interest of the child that father either have no visitation ( which is not likely, but possible if he is still taking drugs), or that he has supervised visitation with no overnights. As it stands, according to the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines he would not be entitled to overnights at this time. You may want to go to the Indiana Judiciary Web Site and look at the guidelines. You should hire an attorney as there is nothing more important than the safety of a child.
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