Fuquay-Varina, NC asked in Family Law for North Carolina

Q: In NC does signing a parenting agreement with a non biological family member automatically take away your parental right

The first hearing for temporary custody lawsuit I signed a little paper saying 'Parenting Agreement' in which their lawyer presented as a minimum visitation schedule (which was more than it had been) and twice weekly telephone calls, including allowing them temporary custody. I assumed that once I obtained a job and could show stability, that I would be able to regain custody of my children. Did I do this thinking wrong, because since then, I attended mediation orientation and read that signing a parental agreement with a nonbiological parent may terminate my rights as a parent. Please tell me I didn't just sign my own death certificate!

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: In North Carolina, only parents have a right to custody of their children. This means that if a non-parent goes to court to get custody of your child, the judge will give the parent priority. However, the judge may give custody rights to the non-parent if the judge decides you are unfit or not acting like a parent. For example, if you have allowed your daughter to live with her aunt and the aunt pays for all the daughter's needs, the judge may decide that the aunt has stepped into the role of a parent and should have custody rights. Depending on what happened during court and what your Parenting Agreement says, the judge may have found that your family member deserved to have custody rights. This doesn't take away your parental rights, but it may have put you and your family member on equal footing instead of you having priority. If you schedule a consultation with an attorney, the attorney can read your Parenting Agreement and help you make sense of what's going on.

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