Question:
The mother of my now adult son and I agreed on the termination of my parental rights in order for her husband to adopt him.
We had the agreement notarized, witnessed and prepared, but she never filed the original document with the court.
Can I still ask the court to enforce the agreement?
Answer:
I am unable to give you legal advice on divorce. I can give general divorce help for men, though, my knowledge is based on Indiana divorce and child support laws where I am licensed to practice.
Most courts would prefer that a child have two parents that can be held accountable for supporting the child. Once the child has reached the age of adulthood or become emancipated, the parent has no further duty to support the child and the parent and child are able to determine whether they wish to have a relationship.
If the husband never adopted your son, the court may determine that it was in the best interest of your son to have both you and his mother obligated to support him.
If you believe it is proper to move forward with attempting to file the agreement, you may submit it for filing with the clerk. This type of document would likely require space for the judge’s signature. If that is the case, it would not become effective until the judge signs it, making it an order of the court.
However, since your son is now an adult, this would likely have little to no effect as there is no longer a duty to support him, unless issues of educational support remain.
Remember, I am unable to provide you with anything more than divorce tips for men, so please consult with a divorce lawyer in your jurisdiction.
To arrange an initial consultation to discuss divorce rights for men with a Cordell & Cordell attorney, including Noblesville, Indiana Divorce Lawyer Sara Pitcher, contact Cordell & Cordell.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to post this in the comment section of this person’s question. I thought I was on a “ask a question” area. I apologize to the author for my question on their post 🙂
Hi, I currently have a geographic restriction on my daughter to Montgomery County and the surrounding counties. My ex wife is requesting that I lift the restriction because her and her fiancĂ© want to move to Wimberley which is 200+ miles away. Right now, I live 10 miles away, so it is a substantial difference. They are not being transferred there or have family there. She has always wanted to move to that town and is stating that her fiancĂ© can’t find a job in his field in Houston, but apparently can in Wimberley. Lol I know, I laughed also. Basically, I’m being threatened that I can either agree to it out of court or she will request mediation which is $400 out of my pocket and then request a modification. She just recently bullied me into a modification about 5 months ago that changed the child/parent relationship and basically my daughter can now negotiate with me about what days she visits instead of the standard order…she’s 15, 16 in July. My daughter had zero interest in ever leaving the area and even fought her mother from moving 20 miles from where we lived. Now, out of nowhere, she’s completely on board with leaving and per her mother will “tell the judge” that she wants the restriction lifted as well. There’s no doubt there has been some sort of coaching or other incentives offered to change her mind, even if I can’t prove it, because her mind changed 180° in a very short time. I don’t think I should have to pay to go fight over something that we’ve already fought over in the original divorce. Is there anything I can request or mediate on my end if I decided to agree? I.e. lower child support, another visitation modification, etc? In a mediation over this, what could I realistically ask for as incentive and would any example I listed even be considered? This modification has ended up costing me time already because she is a teenager and wants to be more independent which I get, but with this distance, I’d see her once a month and the ex is refusing to put back the standard holiday and summer schedules, so my time would be virtually like a grandpa that lives out of town. Thanks in advance for your advice!