Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Re: Sole Custody, no father

There are several routes you could go.

If you are concerned that a father may reappear in the future and try to take custody of her if you are deceased then the best thing to do would be to file a petition to terminate parental rights. If you chose to do this you would have to identify potential fathers and they would have to be tested. If none of those turned out to be the father then an attorney would be appointed to represent unknown fathers. You could then proceed to have their parental rights terminated. The potential problem in going this route is that if one of the potential fathers you identified wanted to have a relationship with her then the child would have to visit the father and he would be a part of her life. You would get child support but you would have to deal with the father. The other disadvantage is that if parental rights are terminated then you can never go back and get child support from the father.

Or, if you want the father involved in her life, you could file a Suit Affecting Parent/Child Relationship. You could get all of the potential fathers tested and if the father was identified then he would have to pay child support and would have a right to see her.

Or, you could simply prepare a will, leaving her to your parents/sister in case something happens to you and hope that the father never tries to find her.

Good luck.

Betsy F. Lambeth

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