Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

Child custody
My exhusband has not or has he ever been consistent in his relationship w/our 11 yr old daughter. He gets married and divorced at least twice a yr and only sees her when he is alone. She has become an emotional wreck because of his treatment and he has been warned by a judge many times. He has stated he will willingly give up his rights to her but i do not know how to go about making this happen

Asked on 7/13/09, 4:39 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Gregory Lee Gregory P. Lee, Attorney at Law

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Re: Child custody

You should simply go to court on a modification and seek to terminate visitation. You should be prepared to have a guardian ad litem appointed at your expense if the father argues against it.

The only way for him to terminate both rights and responsibilities is through a step-parent adoption. By responsibilities, I mean "child support payments." Unless you can do without these (or are doing so already), you may not want to be so extreme.

I would suggest a less extreme course: seek to require that visitation be terminated. As a fall-back, seek a visitation coordinator's appointment, at ex's expense. This will allow the creation of evidence of a third-party about dad's cancellations and failure to be there.

You should really discuss this in more depth with an attorney of your choice.

Answered on 7/13/09, 5:46 pm

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