Grandparents visitation rights in Texas?
Question by kelli: Grandparents visitation rights in Texas?
I am currently 24 years old and 8 months pregnant.
The father of my child wants nothing to do with him. We now live 4 hours away from each other. He gave me the excuse that since he lives with roommates, he wouldn’t be able to keep the child during visitations. He cheated on me, and now has a new “official” girlfriend every few weeks.
When I found out that I would be pregnant and single, I quit my job and moved 250 miles to my parents house so I would have a support system. They have helped me pay for EVERYTHING. I have received no money or support from the father (I know he’s not obligated to during the prenatal period), and he refused to come meet my parents.
I want him to terminate his parental rights, and I do not want him to have to pay child support. The reason for this is because I KNOW that he would never pay, and I don’t want to spend my already busy life chasing a check that will never come. As for him going to jail for non-payment. . .that’s only in theory, since I’ve seen other single mothers struggle without any ramifications for the absentee father. I would rather just let everything go. He is not going to be there to sign the birth certificate, will not be there for the birth, and has since moved to a city that I am unaware of. When I applied for Medicaid, he gave me a false social security number when the application asked for the father’s information. He has no Texas ID, has a warrant for his arrest in Houston, and left Los Angeles because he didn’t want to pay for a DUI and consequently lost his California license. I didn’t find out about ANY of these issues until I was pregnant. He’s basically unsearchable.
My true concern is this: I have not received one phone call from the paternal grandparents who live in Houston. Nothing. Not a “How are you,” “Can we help,” “Go to Hell”. . . nothing.
I’m scared that once the “dirty work” of having this baby is over, they are going to call and want to visit after a year or so. What rights would a paternal grandparent in Texas have under circumstances like these? They live 3 hours from my current location. I have only shaken the hand of the grandmother once (unrelated to the pregnancy), and I have never met the grandfather, and I don’t even know his name. Do they have a right to visitation?
Thank you for your answers so far. . . The parents actually DO know about the child, which is why I’m so scared!!!
I’ve heard so many horror stories about “Grandparents Rights.” It’s confusing to know which ones would apply to me!
Best answer:
Answer by Hanley’s Bar
I understand how you feel. If it were me, and I felt that way about the father, you have no obligation once you have the baby to put him on the birth certificate. Think how many women who have babies actually don’t know who the father is or put the wrong guy. And you can definitely not put one at all. Once you do that, he has no parental rights at all. In order to get them, he would have to jump through some hoops legally, like filing for custody, getting a lawyer etc. and a dead beat like him -not gonna go through that.
The grandparents also cannot do anything. As grandparents, the only time they can (legally) step in, is if they report the child at harm. Chances are, he hasn’t even TOLD THEM either. And as long as you keep it a secret, they may never be the wiser. If you appear to have dropped off the face of the Earth, give up contact with him (probably already have made that decision, huh?) and change your phone number to keep him from calling you, you forever ruin any chances of anyone getting ahold of you.
That’s a tough decision, but not a hard one to make given the right circumstances. It is probably the wisest as well, and it takes someone strong to move on like that -so I commend you.
Trust me, pregnancy is MUCH easier without a man anyway lol.
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