Q: I moved to Colorado Springs 3 year ago with my 7 year old daughter.
Her mother who lives in Missouri has had no contact for 18 months. Do she forfeit her rights to her.
A: No, a court action is required to terminate parental rights. The lack of contact may indicate abandonment, but this does not automatically terminate parental rights. It appears that you do not have a custody agreement in place. You may want to consider filing a custody action. You potentially can have the mother cede her rights if you agree to not request child support. Contact a family law attorney for all the details (and potential risks for filing or not filing).
A: No. Just because the mother has had no contact does not mean her rights are forfeited. An attorney would need to know if there are custody orders in place. If there are Missouri orders, this would still be a Missouri case. If no orders, no rights are forfeited, but you are clearly in the driver's seat if you want to formally seek custody.
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