Q: Can I legally change my children's last name? And have my ex husband rights stripped? The kids are 6&5
When we got divorced in 2018 he was in prison since then he has never portioned the court for visitation and has never payed a cent since they were born we were legally separated in 2015. Can I strip him of his rights? Since 2018 he has been in and out of jail multiple times and is a felon. This was also a domestic violence case we're he abused me in front of the children who at the time was 1 and new born??
A: This question comes up so frequently... Even lousy father's cannot be stripped of their parental rights if there is no new father to step into their shoes, i.e. you got subsequently got married. The public policy behind it is that even a lousy father is better than no father.
A: If you have remarried, your husband (the child's step-father) can adopt your child without the father's consent in certain circumstances. One of those reasons is if he has failed to communicate with the child without just cause for a period of more than 6 months. This would terminate the father's parental rights.
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