Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
non-biological parental rights
My ex-girlfriend and I are recently separated. She has a wonderful two year old daughter who I have had the great pleasure of treating as my own. Her biological father is not in the picture, nor has been, and I have been there since 4 months into the pregnancy. This little angel is as close as I can come to having my own child without actually fathering a child. I'm pretty sure that the law doesn't grant me any rights, especially now that I'm no longer with her mother as a couple, however, as long as the mother continues to see me as being fit to be a father, I will be in the picture. What I would like to know is: 1) Is there any way that I can become this childs' legal parent or guardian without being married to her mother, (probably not, but it can't hurt to ask,) and 2) Is there any kind of law or mandate that gives me ANY KIND OF RIGHTS WHATSOEVER, since I've put so much of myself into being a parent. I'd like to know that I'm not completely at the mercy of everyone else in the world, solely because she doesn't possess my DNA.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: non-biological parental rights
If the mom agrees, you could be added as a non-parent conservator. It would give you some limited rights to see the kid. Unfortunately, the legal father would have to be notified too.
It is unusual but it's been done.
So be nice to Mom and see if she'll agree to adding you. Then if Mom died, you would have some legal standing to try to get custody. Even if Mom is healthy, traffic accidents do happen. I doubt that Mom wants the kid to go to a stranger.
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Re: non-biological parental rights
This is a complicated issue but there are several possibilities for getting you what you want. This isn't something to try to address in an email. I don't charge for initial consultations so call my office and set an appointment to talk with me. Do it soon, as there are time constraints.
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