Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

What if a mother never filed, or requested child support from the biological father of her child that she had out of wedlock in the state of Virginia? Is the mother still owed child support or arrearages even if she never filed or requested support? The mother does not wish to receive any money for support, backpay or not, out of fear that he may request visitation, or seek a relationship with the child of any sort. From what I understand, that is neither biological parents choice because the money is for the child, not the custodial parent. Is that true? I understand that every biological parent has the right to have a relationship with their child; However, he has never contacted my fiancé to see his daughter, he has never paid a single cent in child support, has been in and out of prison, is currently in prison, and has multiple felony convictions. We do no not feel safe at ALL about his involvement in any way whatsoever with my fiancé's daughter and we would like to know if his past holds any weight on his rights to see the child if he randomly decides to, because it would undoubtedly devastate the child and wreak havoc on our family. I feel that it would be nothing short of heinous for him be able to lawfully drop in because he got a notion to have a relationship with the child after all of this time. Considering all of the factors and events that have transpired over the past 7 years that the child has been alive I feel that his parental bridges have been burned, but I am not familiar with Virginia custody law in this type of case. The child has no idea he exists and believes that her former stepfather is her real father who had been with her since infancy. I know for a fact that any type of relationship between my fiance's daughter and her biological father would NOT be conducive to her mental or physical health whatsoever, and I believe that she would be very unsafe under his care for any amount of time. Also, what are the biological father's financial obligations if he has been in and out of prison, and is currently in prison? I am the custodial parent's fiancé, whom I also share a child with and live with. I will be married to her in 3 weeks and she and I would like to know if she can terminate parental rights, which she wishes to do. Also, can we place any sort of restraining order on him after his release date even if no assault charges have been filed against him stemming from their past relationship? The child that my fiancé and he share is 7 years old, and she has no idea who he is, and does not know that she and her younger sister have different fathers. My fiancé was under the impression that he would be released soon, however after doing some of my own research, I found out that he has been out of prison twice, and has been back to prison twice, where he currently resides during the period she believed he was incarcerated. I have not been able to find his release date, however I located his prison ID number and intend to call the appropriate authorties to get his release date. After abandoning his daughter, physically and financially, and considering his past, will he still be granted visitation if he requests it post release? I have done some research and found that there are exceptions to parental rights if the parent or the parent in question's behavior has been deemed detrimental to the child's well being. We are not concerned with the child support and expect nothing from a person like him, our main concern is terminating his rights. What are our options concerning this matter? Also, as her stepfather, what are my options if I would like to adopt her, which I do.

1 Answer from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Family Law, Divorce, Child Custody and Adoption questions and answers in Virginia

Looking for something else?