This question is actually for my boyfriend but he doesn't think there is anything he can do so I am snooping around for him to see if there is. My boyfriend and I are pretty serious and I would hate for this to come back and affect us as a family in the future (back childsupport, etc.).

My boyfriend was seeing this girl a few years ago. They broke up and she moved to Colorado. About a year went by and his ex-girlfriend (who cheated on him and was supposively on birthcontrol) called him and told him she had a baby and that it was his. He says that he doesn't think the kid is his. He has never had a paternity test. He has told her that he doesn't want anything to do with the child nor could he financially support the child and would more than happy sign his complete rights away to this child. She told him that she won't let him do that because down the road he might regret it.

What can he do? He wants to sign his rights 100% away, fiancially, custody everything. He doesn't have the money to get an attorney, got laid off a few months ago. Can he legally sign his rights away? If so what does he need to do?

Until the child is legally established as his, he has NEITHER rights NOR responsibilities.

However, should a court ORDER him to take a paternity test, and the child turns out to be his; he can expect BOTH rights AND responsibilities to be laid out by the court. The RIGHTS he doesn't ever have to exercise if he doesn't want to; however, unless either (a) the mother is married and the husband wants to adopt the child; or (b) the father is convicted of a serious crime against a minor or looking at decades in prison for some major crime, the court isn't going to just let him wash his hands of supporting a child he had a part in creating; whether he can afford to or not. Yes, that means that if the court orders him to pay, and he doesn't, that nasty things like garnishment of paychecks, suspending of drivers license, suspension of professional or other government issued licenses, seizure of bank accounts, and even arrest warants and jail time are all possible.

Until either (a) the child is 18 and chance for legal action is past, or, until (b) paternity is either established or disproven, I'd be VERY careful if I were you about getting financially tied up with or dependent on this potential father; his financial world could change VERY quickly, drastically, and last a considerable length of time (until the child is 18, 21 in some cases).

The only way to be sure is for paternity to be disestablished (ie take the DNA test and NOT be the father). Until that's done, don't make a lot of long term financial plans together.

Overall, any "rights" are the CHILD's rights...NOT the parent's rights. The CHILD has the right to TWO parents, and neither the mother NOR the father gets to simply opt out and deprive the child of TWO parents (so even if mom WANTED to allow a "signoff", that not really how it works. That's where the courts come in: the protect the rights of the CHILD to TWO parents; which is why mom would need a "replacement" parent, willing to become LEGALLY responsible for the child, before another parent would get cut loose).

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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 completely with aardvarc on this one. He doesn't have to do anything until she files for support or paternity. 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. 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.