Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon
Absent Parent
My daughter's father has been absent from her life for over two years consistently and was VERY sporadic before that. He has not paid any form of support or attempted any communication at all in over two years. I have no way of contacting him and no idea of his whereabouts.He has emotional problems and has battled with alchoholism and drugs for many years. With that said, I have two questions.
1) Is it possible for me to have his parental rights revoked? I am concerned about him coming back and disrupting our lives again. My daughter has finally reached a point where she has accepted his absence and is coping with it in a healthy manner.
2) I would like to take my daughter on a vacation to Mexico, and have been told that I have to have a notarized consent form from him to take her out of the country. Since I am unaware of his location or how to contact him this is not only impossible, but a very unappealing idea.
Any advice would be appreciated. I am only trying to protect my daughter.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Termination of parental rights....
YOUR QUESTION:
1) Is it possible for me to have his parental rights revoked? I am concerned about him coming back and disrupting our lives again. My daughter has finally reached a point where she has accepted his absence and is coping with it in a healthy manner.
ANSWER:
No. While the State (through a juvenile court proceeding) can involuntarily terminate parental rights in cases of extreme parental abuse or neglect, it cannot be done on a private basis.
Short of simply having the existing father replaced by another father through an adoption proceeding, there is no way that one parent can legally terminate the other parent's existing parent-child relationship, nor can the "absent parent" voluntarily surrender his/her legal rights.
YOUR QUESITON:
2) I would like to take my daughter on a vacation to Mexico, and have been told that I have to have a notarized consent form from him to take her out of the country. Since I am unaware of his location or how to contact him this is not only impossible, but a very unappealing idea.
ANSWER:
Check with the airlines on this one. If you have a court order that places the child in your legal custody and contains no provision restricting your right to travel out-of-country with the child, there should be no problem.
LAWRENCE D. GORIN
http://www.divorcesource.com/OR/pages/ldgorin.html
Law Offices of L.D. Gorin
521 S.W. Clay St., Suite 205
Portland, Oregon 97201
Phone: 503-224-8884 (afternoons, Pacific time)
Fax: 503-226-1321
E-mail: [email protected]
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