QUESTION FOR A LAWYER...

[Guest jdavis]

my fiance has a 7 year old son whos "father" left him when he was two and, he then petitioned for visitation when he was four years old she gave him supervised visitation. he was supposed to pay child support but never even did that. he never came to see him after that ,he is almost eight now and his "father" is now threatening to take us to court for visitation again. we do not want this man in his life because of his track record of drug arrests and so on. what can we do legally to keep him out of our sons life??? any advice would be greatly appreciated. (ADMINISTRATORS, i know this post may not be appropriate for this forum but i know there are some lawyers on here if it is not acceptable then by all means delete it, and i appologize in advance.)

[Guest Muttling]

Set up a consultation with a divorce attorney. They will give you the first consultation for free.

Now for the bad news.....It's gonna be real tough to prevent him from getting visitation. You can most likely get his wages garnished for child support, but preventing visitation is pretty tough (and expensive.)

[Guest jdavis]

not worried about the child support i will continue to raise him like he is my own just dont think the boy needs to be involved with a person like him in any way. i dont think wage garnishment would be possible anyway he would have to earn a wage to have it garnished.

[Guest HexHead]

Set up a consultation with a divorce attorney. They will give you the first consultation for free.

Now for the bad news.....It's gonna be real tough to prevent him from getting visitation. You can most likely get his wages garnished for child support, but preventing visitation is pretty tough (and expensive.)

IANAL, but it shouldn't be that hard if the guy has a record of drug arrests. Lawyer up and she'll probably end up in family court. With a criminal record and his not making ANY child support payments, he doesn't have a strong case.

[Guest strelcevina]

Child Support Services, Tennessee Child Support

Tennessee Child Support Enforcement Measures

If a non-custodial parent does not pay child support, he or she is subject to enforcement measures in accordance with Federal and Tennessee child support law to collect regular and past-due payments.

• Automatically withholding of wages and other income
  
• Seizure of assets identified by the Financial Institution Data Match (FIDM) program
  
• Intercepts of federal tax refunds
  
• Denial of passport applications using the IRS Treasury/Administrative Offset program
  
• Revocation driver's licenses, professional licenses, and various other licenses
  
• Reporting of child support debt to the credit reporting agencies
  
• Placement of liens against real or personal property
  

Tennessee Statute of Limitations on Back Child Support Payments (Arrears)

There is no statute of limitations on enforcement of past due child support in Tennessee (TCA § 36-2-321).

[Guest Revelator]

You'd have to either get the father to consent to an adoption, or file a petition to have his parental rights terminated. I believe these are the only ways to legally keep him out of the child's life. It doesn't sound like you'll get him to consent so a termination petition may be in order. You'd have to prove by clear and convincing evidence that abandonment has occurred, and that the termination is in the child's best interest. There are many factors to consider for both abandonment and best interest. This is just a brief rundown of the steps you might have to take; I'd talk to a family lawyer.

[Guest clownsdd]

Long row to plow. Good luck.