Child Abandonment in Texas?
So, the biological father hasn't seen my g/f's daughter since she was 1-week old. He did not assist with any of the medical bills nor pay any child support at the time.
When the child was 2yr I met her mother and have raised her these last 6yrs.
When the child was 4yr the mother's file for child support had finally processed and the bio-father was being forced to pay now by court order. So, technically, he did not pay child support the first 4yrs of the child's life and after that it wasn't done willingly.
The child is 8yr old now and the bio-father has never visited her. However, out of the blue recently we received a message from him. It seems like he may finally be in the "mood" to be the father. He also lives in another state so any visitation would not be frequent.
Can we take him to court and request to deny his visitation rights? Or file for child abandonment? Technically, during the first 4yrs of the child's life he abandoned the child according to law. However, since he was "forced" to pay child support by the courts the second half of the child's life can abandonment still be filed?
If the bio-father lived in town and wanted frequent visits that'd be one thing. I could deal with that. But we know this is going to be one of those "once a year" visits just to put his 2cents in which we don't feel is in the best interest of the child. Of course, this is up to the law, so I was hoping for more info.
The bio-father's parents haven't said anything and we doubt they care. He has, as far as we know, 2-3 kids with 2-3 different women (my g/f included). If he's had more than that the last 8 years I don't know.
He hasn't applied for any visitation orders "yet".
As I said he lives in a different state. I "personally" don't see how a 1-2 visits a year (at most I'm sure) from a bio-father she isn't aware of is in her best interest.
I would gladly adopt her. We still have an email form his miltary email address from early in our relationship where he suggested signing over full custody. I didn't want to do this back then since we had been dating for less than a year and I didn't think it was the right choice at the time. What would have happened if we didnt' work out? She'd have been left with no child support.
We are actually planning to get married and get a house within the next 12-18 months.