Re: Relinquishing parental rights

First, and most importantly, the standard for custody and visitation is "the best interests of the child." The Courts generally allow visitation, because it is believed to be in the best interests of the child for that child to have contact with both parents. This is rarely refused, and then only in the most serious situations.

That being said, for a modification of custody and visitation, the parent will have to show that something has changed. It is unlikely that custody of your child would be threated after several years of no contact by the other parent, unless there are substantial issues with your custody (such as physical abuse or serious neglect).

Nonetheless, it is possible that the court will find it in the best interests of your child to have a relationship with the parent, even if it has taken the parent many years to come to realize that this is important for their child. This relationship would be fostered by allowing the prodigal parent to have visitation.

You should be represented by an attorney for this, especially if you intend to fight visitation altogether or limit visitation. Visitation can be limited to times and dates (it normally is), or it can be "supervised" (requiring a third party to be present at visitation). Supervised visitation is rarely awarded, but could be deemed proper where the parent has not had contact for many years, and especially if the child is still relatively young.

I hope that this answers some of your questions. Good luck.