questions & answers

Question: I have a friend who wants DNA done on a child. He has already been ordered topay child ssupport. Plus he wants to sign his rights of all 3 kids over to the mother. She has a restraining order against him and has had him arrested before for domestic violence. He doesn't want to keep going to jail because she wants to take away everything he has. Can he sign his rights over?

Answer: Termination of parental right can occur in varies degrees but one of the most common ways is abandonment. In Arizona parental rights can be terminated and once that occurs all right and responsibilities cease. Statutory Termination Grounds Abandonment – A.R.S. §8-533(B)(1) ? Failure to maintain a normal parental relationship with the child without just cause for six months constitutes a prima facie case of abandonment ? Parent must make more than minimal efforts to provide reasonable support and communicate regularly with their child ? Objective view (look at parent’s conduct in the proper context (e.g., incarceration)); the parent’s subjective intent is irrelevant ? Failure to take a paternity test without good cause is evidence of abandonment. A.R.S. § 8-533(F) ? “The burden to act as a parent rests with the parent, who should assert his legal rights at the first and every opportunity” https://des.az.gov/services/child-and-family/child-support/arizona-child-support-services-modify-and-calculate-child;https://des.az.gov/services/child-and-family/child-support/arizona-child-support-establishing-paternity