Termination of Parental Rights: I want to know if I CAN - if legally it is possible

Originally Posted by sunlover You cannot will or name guardians for children who have a parent who is fit and willing to take care of children!

Yes,,, you can. Feel free to do a bit more research on this topic before making such assertions.

Besides which, have you taken the time to read through the entire thread - most specifically - the OP's? Her ex does not sound like a man fit and willing to take care of his children.

[mkm1083]

Originally Posted by Friend In Court Termination of parental rights is something that is not done easily. You may have a support order and custody decree entered, even if he is out of state. Support enforcement can be enlisted to find a parent who has abandoned a child if he is anywhere in the U.S. and sometimes, even overseas. But without a custody decree being entered and support, you will have difficulty enlisting any agency's help. What you describe is a case of child abandonment--abandoning and failing to support which is a crime in most states. This gives longarm jurisdiction to a state to serve process on him and haul him back, at least on the business end of a summons and complaint, to be in court in Michigan. As to a your child going to him automatically should something happen to you, not necessarily. For you may make a will with provisions for who would be guardian of your child in the event of your demise. He would have to challenge the will provision and with a history of abandonment, not likely that would be happen. Your child is entitled to be supported by both parents, including the abandoning father. There will come a day when the child will want to know the father and probably will search for him. If you wish more information on abandonment constituting a tort -- which will give Michigan courts long arm jurisdiction over him, email me up and I will supply what information I can.

The long-arm jurisdiction that you mentioned - my lawyer also mentioned this at the divorce hearing. The judge said Michigan does not have long-arm jurisdiction in this case because the father never resided in Michigan with the children. Does this make a difference?

Also, support enforcement won't help me track him down unless I can provide information on where he is (constantly changes) and/or employer (works cash farm jobs and is also constantly changing). I honestly have no idea what state he is even in.

[mkm1083]

Originally Posted by Stepmomwquestio While it seems unlikely, it has never hurt anyone to try. Perhaps your ex would even help pay for at least this one thing?

That's funny. I haven't seen a dime in the entire 2 years he's been gone and he stopped working halfway through pregnancy one and has yet to hold consistant employment 3.5 years later.

@sunlover and unregistered people...
From what I know, I can put guardianship provisions in my will. However, the court can set those provisions aside if their father were to request it. The court does not have to but can. Preventing this is the whole reason for wanting to terminate rights to begin with.

[Friend In Court]

Originally Posted by sunlover You cannot will or name guardians for children who have a parent who is fit and willing to take care of children!

I beg to differ with the learned Sunlover for this very thing was arranged by our attorney as part of our wills.

A parent CAN designate one to be a guardian of their children by so naming in the will. Of course the long gone father can come back and challenge that designated guardian, contesting that provision of the will. The facts the poster stated, a father who has abandoned and failed to support, not visited, a virtual stranger, will find it uphill in court to prove he is a fit and proper person. Contacting your state's support enforcement agency is a first step in getting him to at least pay his obligation to support.

Originally Posted by mkm1083 The long-arm jurisdiction that you mentioned - my lawyer also mentioned this at the divorce hearing. The judge said Michigan does not have long-arm jurisdiction in this case because the father never resided in Michigan with the children. Does this make a difference? Also, support enforcement won't help me track him down unless I can provide information on where he is (constantly changes) and/or employer (works cash farm jobs and is also constantly changing). I honestly have no idea what state he is even in.

You might want to speak to someone in a management position at your local or state child custody enforcement agency.

All anyone in those offices needs is his SSN. (Social Security Number)

[mkm1083]

Originally Posted by Unregistered You might want to speak to someone in a management position at your local or state child custody enforcement agency. All anyone in those offices needs is his SSN. (Social Security Number)

It's a number of cases vs. number of employees issue. Without anything to go on they can't help me. In the past year he has been in Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, and North Dakota. (When I said out-of-state and transient I wasn't exaggerating!) At least one different employer in each place and mostly cash jobs so tracking him by SSN wouldn't even work anyways. His parents give me as much info as they get and I've been there when they've asked.

Originally Posted by mkm1083 That's funny. I haven't seen a dime in the entire 2 years he's been gone and he stopped working halfway through pregnancy one and has yet to hold consistant employment 3.5 years later. @sunlover and unregistered people... From what I know, I can put guardianship provisions in my will. However, the court can set those provisions aside if their father were to request it. The court does not have to but can. Preventing this is the whole reason for wanting to terminate rights to begin with.

This is a very tricky area you're delving into.

For one thing, even if he were to have his parental rights terminated, if you were to predecease him he could theoretically come back and petition the court for custody - thus creating a whole new drama for whomever has guardianship of the child and the child as well. Courts notoriously favor biological parents over anyone else in child custody - regardless of their less than perfect parenting conduct.

You claim he left two years ago, and go on to state he hasn't been consistently employed for three and a half years. You state elsewhere that you have no idea where he is or what state he's living in. That said, it's unclear how you're in possession of that information but cannot locate him. I'm just curious how you know whether or not he's been steadily employed for the past two years when you're also claiming you have no idea where he is or how to contact him.

I'm not sure I buy that. In this day and age it's extremely easy to track someone down. He certainly isn't in hiding and he's bouncing from one job to the next.

Let's go back to square one. To answer your hypothetical question of whether or not you can successfully terminate his parental rights: In theory you have compelling grounds to do so.

You might want to consult with an attorney over the logistics involved. You may be able to post the termination publicly in the newspaper of his last known address - which will solve the location problem.