Does the dad have rights.?

Question

thank you to everyone that let me knwo about the adaption thing with my husbands sisters baby. we still have alot to talk about. but i was wondering can we get rights signed over to us, before she has the baby cause other wise we are afraid she is going to wanna keep it. and she is not fit to have another baby right now. do we have to have rights from the dad cause he is like telling her she hast to have an abortion.

Answer 1

If he doesn't sign over his rights he can come back at any time and have visitation rights and possibly custody. If he doesn't want the baby he may not give you too much trouble soon, but one day he might grow a heart and want to see the baby. Tell her to tell him if he doesn't sign over rights he will be forced to pay child support. He'll most likely sign them over in a jiffy.

Answer 2

The dad has rights BUT not over the mother and if she let's it be known he wanted her to kill it, he has LESS rights when it comes to adoption, and well, one parent cannot make the other give up a child unless they are unfit ,then the child goes into the social services system before anyone gets her/him. SAD, but true ,as a sister you have no rights at all to her child and yes she may change her mind . It seems kinda tricky to me that you would want to try to take her child away before she is ready. You can't really sign over the baby before, because you have to go through the legal or social services system. It takes time.

Answer 3

He can sign his rights over to you, and if he doesn't want it, it may be the best thing for everyone - because if he doesn't have rights, he doesn't have responsibility either.

Answer 4

If the baby's father wants her to get an abortion, he's basically telling her that he doesn't want the child.

However, once the baby is born, he does have legal parental rights to the baby and will have to sign away his parental rights before the baby can be adopted by you.

Unfortunately for you, adoption rights favor the birth parents and even if your sister in-law signs a legal document that states she is going to give up her baby to you for adoption, she can up until a certain time (check with your state for your state's actually timeline) change her mind even after adoption papers are filed.  She (as the birth mother) will be able to change her mind (and be granted the baby) regardless of whether or not she can support the child.

On the same token, if you don't get a legal document from the baby's father saying that he signs off his parental rights, he can also put a stop to your adoption based on the fact that he is the father and can claim the child as his (as long as he can prove it is).

My advice......make sure that all your i's are dotted and t's are crossed when it comes to adoption.  I would hate for you all to be disappointed because either one of them changed their mind.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I didn't respond to your first question, but as far as the Dad having rights, yes, he does.

He will have to prove paternity, and this can be costly and tim consuming.

Do some research about the putative father registry in your state. Google it. It could answer a lot of questions for you.

If you have any others feel free to contact me via email. We just went through an adoption involving this putative father registry....

Good luck!

Answer 6

No state allows relinquishment of rights pre-birth

Answer 7

dads have rights and they have to be signed over too and he has 6 to 12 months top rethink as does the mom and they can take baby back at any time

Answer 8

EVEN IF SHE SIGNES PAPERS NOW.SHE STEEL HAS A CHANGES OF CHANGEING HER MIND AFTER THE BABY IS BORN. YOU HAVE TOO HAVE BOTH PARNETS TO SIGN PAPERS,SIGNING OVER THE CHILD TO YOU.YOUR HUSBANDS SISTER DOES NOT HAVE TO DO WHAT THE FATHER WANTS HER TO DO. BUT SHE HAS TO MAKE UP HER MIND. YOU HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. MOST ADOPTIVES LIKE THIS HAPPEN AFTER THE BIRTH. BUT IN SOME CASE,IF THE MOTHER IS FOR SURE SHE IS WANTING TO GIVE UP THE BABY AND THE FATHER HAS SIGNED THE PAPER THEN YOU CAN TAKE THE BABY HOME.BUT AS THE MOTHER SHE HAS THE RIGHT TO BACK OUT.I THINK SHE HAS 1TO 3 MONTHS TO CHANGE HER MIND AFTER THE BIRTH.BUT YOU CAN GO TO COURT,IF SHE IS UNFIT AND THE FATHER IS UNFIT. BUT YOU WILL NEED TO SHOW THEY ARE UNFIT.JUST BE PATIENT,IT WILL HAPPEN. IF SHE LOVES HER BABY AND WANT A GOOD LIVE FOR THE CHILD.THEN HOPEFULLY SHE WILL.GOOD LUCK.....

Answer 9

A mother cannot relinquish her parental rights before the birth of a baby.  And, the birthfather does have rights even before the birth.

If your sister-in-law wants to place her child, she will need to relinquish her rights according to her particular state's laws after her baby is born.  If she and the father are not married, he can probably relinquish his rights before the baby is born (this is allowed in my state).  However, if they are married, he is considered the legal father and cannot relinquish his rights until after the birth as well.

You need a lawyer to help in this matter.

Answer 10

Oh... you are really treading waters into unethical behavior.  Please read the following pdf published by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute to see why.

http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publica...

Attempting to take her rights before the baby is born, not give her legal representation, and likely not offer any unbiased appropriate counseling is absolutely dreadful.  And, that isn't even addressing the rights of the father of that child!

Please read that pdf file and give it some thought.

Answer 11

First and foremost, you want to get the father to go to an attorney's office and relinquish his parental rights. That is irreversable. Tell him that he will have to pay child support for the next 18 years, and depending on what state he's in, if your sister is on welfare/medicare, he will have to pay the state back once DNA is proven. Try to get a recording of him telling her to have an abortion, this will be needed. If he doesn't sign away his rights, and he has to pay support, he may try to get custody and it may be when the child is 8 years old. It's always nice to have that on record. Keep any letters to that effect. Somehow get him to put in writing what he wants. A "father" can waive his parental rights before the baby is born. The mother can't.

I am concerned that you're afraid your sister would change her mind. You're there to support her, right?

Answer 12

He can't make her have an abotrion, but once the baby is born he does have rights to it.

Answer 13

The dad is responsible for the neonatal care exspenses and has no say over the child until it is born at which point he must provide child support payments and whatever else type of support that her state of residence requires.   These things are controlled by federal statutes with state enforcement.  At the birth of the child is when the adoption can be done... my girl was one week old when she was given to us.

Answer 14

He can not force her to have an abortion.. However if she chooses to have her baby he could ask for paternity rights.

Answer 15

No you can't force or make the mother sign away her rights while the child is still in her womb.  If she decides to keep the child after it is born there is nothing you can do.  She has the right to change her mind.  The father can not force the mother to have an abortion either.

Answer 16

Both biological parents have parental rights to the child, and yes, both parental rights would be terminated.  

With regards to the custody issue, it is difficult to answer because each state has its own rules when it comes to how long a biological parent has to "change" their mind after the birth.  I believe that even if she signed over custody to you before the birth, her decisions after the birth will be the governing factor.  I would suggest speaking to an attorney to be sure though.

Good luck to you.

Answer 17

Yes, the bio dad has rights.  His paternity must be established first, however.  He can sign a voluntary Waiver now in most states.

The bio mom signs a Relinquishment usually 24-72 hours after the delivery in most states.

You need a qualified adoption agency or adoption attorney to help sort this out and make sure every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed or you will be taking a huge risk!

These kinds of situations can get very complicated and tricky!

Answer 18

it all depends on what state you live in. laws vary a lot. however, i don't think there's anywhere where the parents can sign over their rights before the baby is born. some states don't make it legally final for up to 6 months. some states won't allow the parents to sign their rights away for a few weeks after birth, some a few days. even then, there's a waiting period in most states before it is completely irreversible. as far as i know, fathers have equal rights with mothers to the baby in all states but, i could be wrong.

Answer 19

to get a abortion no he cannot make her he can however prevent you from adopting that baby he has parental rights

Answer 20

I don’t think someone can sign their rights to the child away till it is born.  Plus birthmothers always have a window of opportunity that they can claim thus child back the time period depends but from what I have seen it can range from a few days to even a few months.   The birthfather would have to sign his rights away as well. Since he doesn’t want the child I don’t see it being a big issue.