Do my children have any rights?

[BONILLAK]

My ex and I divorced in July 2006, he quickly remarried in nov 2006. We were all in NJ but in April 2007 he and new wife moved to SC. After last talking to him Jan 17, 2008 he said he would most likely call the kids again the following weekend. He never called and since his new wife only allowed him to call from payphones because she didn't want the kids knowing his number@@ I had no way to reach him. His family hadn't heard from him either during this time. Since he wasnt paying his support after moving I had enforcement under way and got a call from them back on Feb 20 telling me they could no longer try to enforce because he was suffering from a severe medical condition. Needless to say I was shocked! He was fine with no known health issues that we knew of and we were married 18yrs. After tons of research I found him in a hospital in SC but was told that he was in a coma after being without oxygen for 37 mins following heart failure. A nurse mentioned Addison's Disease to me also which we never knew a thing about. Well bottom line is the new wife has never contacted us, refused to speak to our kids, wouldn't let them go see him, refused any mailings and told hospital not to speak to me. Our children are 19, 12 and 6. They are devastated over this and miss him deeply. She broke all contact with everyone in his family(parents, siblings, etc.), no one has heard a word from her and can't get any information. Now we found that he is no longer in the same hospital, she moved him to an undisclosed location. My question here is can a stepmother hide a childs father? Can she really make it that they can never know what happens to him or if he passes away? Is this legal? Also another concern is that if anything they found that caused this happen if hereditary, do we have a right to find out for our children? Please respond. Thanks

[crazylette05]

okay first of all i have to say i feel for you,it sounds like you are in a bad situation..Did you guys ever have visitation or anything set up?if so she cant keep them from him at all step-parents have no rights to keep there spouses kids from them..she sounds really cold hearted..I think a disease like that is hereditary though so you may wanna keep your kids checked..but i think the best thing to do is you say you have a 19 yr. old child,have them try to find out where he is if possible and go see him,your child is of age she really cant keep them from him..i would try to talk to a lawyer about everything else though..good luck..i hope everything works out.