Q: Husband has seen child 8 times in 20 months. Does he still have all his legal custody Rights?
I left my husband 7/13/19 with my 18 month old son. Since then he has seen our son 8 times. The last time he saw him was 10 months ago. I can't afford a lawyer to get divorced right now.. I It's been 10mo.. if he (miraculously) asks to see him now.. does every law still apply as if he has been constantly in his life?
I left bc of the extreme verbal and emotional abuse towards me and my son. He would ignore my son for days on end. I act as if there is already a custody order in place and do everything I would be required to do if there were one. I invite him to every event - bday/xmas/halloween ect. I've told him numerous times that I will rearrange my schedule to fit his so that he can see him. I have never kept my son away from him. I inform him of everything - appointments/educational info ect. He doesn't call or ask. Now I'm orried about the emotional damage that could potentially occur if my husband decided that he wanted to be in his life - either as a constant or a 1 time event
A:
Your husband is the legal father of your son. Without a court order, there is no losing his parental rights. If he showed up today to see him, he would have the right to do so. In order to minimize or take away any of his rights, you would have to file for the divorce and make enough allegations about his behavior that the court would limit his ability to parent your son. When you are ready to go forward, I would recommend using a good family attorney as this would be a complicated situation.
Good luck.
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