Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina

if the father of my 9 month old child is willing to sign away parental right to her bc he has done nothing for her since birth and wants nothing to do with her what do I have to do to get it done also I am aware he will not have to pay child support that is fine with me I have taken care of her own my own since birth and want to continue to do so I want nothing from him but for him to be out of our lives....


Asked on 1/28/14, 11:16 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

If you are aware of the consequences, you would need to file a petition to terminate parental rights. Your basis for the petition would be that he has shown no interest in the child, that termination is in the child's best interest and that he is consenting to the termination. If you don't know how to draft and file the petition, you will need to hire an attorney to do it for you. The how to part of things is too complex for a forum like this. You will want to shop around for an attorney you are comfortable with and who will quote you an upfront, flat rate fee. If the father is consenting, this will not be a lot of work for the attorney, basically about 20 to 30 minutes or less to draft the paper work, maybe $50 to $100 bucks in expenses for materials, staff and service of process and an brief appearance in court. So a flat rate fee of around $500 to $750 would be appropriate. You will come across attorneys who will want to bill you by the hour and/or want retainers in the thousands - avoid them - they are most likely either ripping you off or simply have an overvalued sense of what their work is worth.

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Answered on 1/28/14, 6:31 pm


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