Relinquish Parental Rights

[Laura*lee]

My sons mother sees him five times a year at the most. We can tell it is just a routine, and she has remained uninterested in him since she allowed him to live with his father in 2005. She routinely calls him on Monday afternoons and talks for a couple of minutes or sometimes she lets him go on and on. (He has ADHD) If there is no answer on Monday, she will call back the following Monday. It is easy to see that she just calls so she can say she called. She has never been to any school event and either doesn't pay medical bills or rejects the mail altogether. Child support has not been paid in over a year. There are so many problems with this woman. On a really serious note, everybody that has ever encountered her and has been asked agrees that she is mentally ill. She seems to be both bipolar and schitzo. It seems that she has passed the schitzo disorder to the child. Together, they can be a bad match. He is difficult for adults and children to deal with and it seems that with every visit, he gets worse. She fills his head with lies and ideas that nobody cares about him but her. But he doesn't see, or doesn't show that he sees, that she doesn't even do anything for him, at all.

This is just to sum it up. Does it seem like her parental rights can be involuntarily relinquished on the grounds that she is mentally unstable and it is in the best interest of the child? When we mentioned it to our lawyer, she seemed to just blow it off. We don't know if she doesn't want to do the work or what, but she didn't give it a minute of her time. Please respond. Time is very sensitive. This child really doesn't need to be around any adult like her.

Without knowing your state, I will have to comment somewhat generally. I can say, however, that securing an involuntary termination of parental rights will be extraordinaryily difficult -- actually essentially impossible -- under the facts you have related here. There are such strong due process protections for parents, so in reality you would have to show some incredibly strong grounds for terminating her parental rights. Hope things work out for all involved. AJJ

[sunlover]

I would not be making statements of alledged mental illness without a Doctor diagnosing one or both either. If Mom is not calling, seeing etc child then there is not threat just lack of contact. A TPR based on this will not wash in nearly all states/ You can request Mom willingly give up her rights long as Dad has remarried and his new wife willing to adopt. However unless Mom is willing its pointless to pursue

Originally Posted by Laura*lee She seems to be both bipolar and schitzo. It seems that she has passed the schitzo disorder to the child.

Wow... I'm not sure if you realize but "schitzo" is not a medical term. Nor it is a term that any mother, biological or not, should be applying to her own child. I'm disturbed by this terminology immensely.

Unless she's been properly diagnosed by a trained professional in the field of psychiatry, you cannot forcibly relinquish her parental rights. Right now it is only your opinion that she is suffering any personality disorder or mental illness. You cannot force her to be evaluated.

On the child support issue, that is something the father needs to get taken care of right away. She should be paying child support.