Q: If the father is willing to sign over his rights, can he sign them over to my best friend who is a female?
Can my best friend be the one who takes the right, whom is female and we are not in a romantic relationship of any sort.
A: It is possible, if both parents agree, to grant another adult custody of their child to raise, either temporarily or for an unspecified term. I recommend that the arrangement be in writing, signed by all necessary parties. You have not asked about legal adoption, so I assume that your best friend is not seeking to become the legal adoptive parent and that the birth parents are not looking to give up their legal parental rights. The longer that person other than the birth parents raise a child, the greater likelihood a judge at a later date can determine that the child has bonded with that non-birth adult who has been raising them, and that could affect decisions as to continued custody of the child based on a "best interests of the child" analysis, depending on how the arrangement is set up and maintained from the beginning. However, if the non-birth parent is going to be raising a minor child for the long-term, they will need to have legal authority to enroll the child in school and to make necessary decisions like medical care, receive and review the child's schooling and medical records, etc. The parents and your friend need to each have legal counsel review and draft up proper documents to address all these matters so that this arrangement meets everyone's goals and needs, including the minor child's, and future legal custody issues.
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