Q: I have temporary custody of my granddaughter. Both parents signed (unwed) in July 2015.
My daughter (mother) of child as been active in child's life again since March 2016. She would like to regain her rights without the father. The father has not seen or made contact with child since March 2016. Order does not give visitation or child support. I've made two attempts to contact father through his mother because I have no address or phone number. Mother gives no response. How do we grant my daughter her rights back without involving father?
A: Not enough information here to give a good answer. Short answer is if you don't have a court order awarding you custody, your daughter still has legal custody and you can simply let her have the child. If you do have a court order, notice will have to be provided to the father when you file a petition to modify. If you can't locate him to have him served with a summons and have made a diligent effort and search to reach him, you will need to publish notice of the action in the newspaper. If he doesn't show, your daughter should be restored as the sole legal custodian.
A: You can't do anything in court involving the child without "involving" the father. The father has parental rights ( which are highly regarded in the law, even though he doesn't exercise those rights) and he is entitled to be notified of any court proceedings involving the child. If he can't be located to be given notice, see the previous answer about "constructive notice" - giving notice by a publication in a newspaper. This is probably too complicated to do without a lawyer, so hire one or be very careful.
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