Legal Question in Family Law in Oregon

Distinction needs to be made between "rights" and "responsibilities." Your son�s �parental rights� consist of his having the right to maintain a relationship with his child, to visit the child, perhaps even have custody of the child, assuming he wishes the exercise those rights and further that his doing so is consistent with the best interests of the child. On the other hand, his �parental responsibility� is to financially support his child (usually through the payment of court-ordered child support).

Your son can easily and voluntarily give-up his parental RIGHTS. He does this by simply NOT exercising his rights. No court order is needed, nor does he need anybody�s consent. However, he cannot simply chose on his own to terminate his parental RESPONSIBILITIES, particularly the responsibility for the support of the child that help create. (Suppose BOTH parents were able to simply foregoing their responsibilities for the support of their child? Who would then pick-up the tab? The taxpayer (through public welfare programs)? Sorry, as a taxpayer, I do not want the burden of having to support your son�s child. That is HIS responsibility, not that of the public treasury. If he did not want to be parent (and have to deal with parental responsibilities), he should not have engaged in the process that led to the present result.