Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: divorce, children

Thank you for your very difficult question.

I am often asked whether an individual can give up his or her rights to a child, and in exchange, terminate liability for child support. I understand from your question that this issue arises in the context of an ongoing divorce proceeding.

The simple answer to your question is that a parent cannot simply avoid responsibility for child support, no matter how onerous the obligation may seem, by �giving up� his or her parental rights. Even if the parents were to agree that the father, for example, could terminate his parental rights, the Court would not approve the agreement. In fact, the Court does not even have the authority to do so.

A parent�s obligation to pay support is terminated in one of two ways: first, when the child is adopted by another person, or second, when the parent�s rights are terminated because of abuse or neglect. A parent cannot simply choose to throw up his hands and say, �I can�t afford this, so go ahead, take away my parental rights.�

You may feel free to contact me if you have further questions about this matter. My contact information appears below.

Re: divorce, children

You cannot simply decide that you doi not wish to support a child and relinquish rights.