I am married have a 2 1/2 daughter outside my marriage and my wife just found out. The child lives in Virginia and I live in different state. My situation is sought of like John Edwards.... however not as bad. I want to give up paternity rights and be there for my wife a 100%. How can I go about this in that state?

You don't have to do ANYTHING to give up your rights, you are completely free to choose not to exercise them. You cannot be required to have any level of contact with the child. However, if you are asking how to give up parental RESPONSIBILITY for the child, then the news isn't so good. The courts really don't care about parental rights unless and until you WANT them....but they care a LOT about the CHILD'S rights...and thus courts want children to have the financial support of TWO parents, and typically will not let you abandon your child unless the mother is remarried and her husband wants to adopt the child. If that's the case, then she should file a case in the court for the county where the child lives, and the court can both terminate your responsibilities and finalize adoption to the step-father in one unified process. If that's NOT the case, don't expect the court to sever the child's right to your support, whether you choose to play a parental role or not.

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While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

I agree with aardvarc on this one. If the mother files for support, you most likely will be required to pay it. You do not get to give up your obligation on this. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.