I have some questions, the situation is that I have a 5 year old little girl and her father has not been apart of her life at all. He was in jail for the first 3 and 1/2 years of her life and since he has been out, I have spoke with him once and he wanted to see her but didnt pusue it anymore, we went to court last year and got the support ordered, he has not made any payments and has another child that he pays for and now he sends me a letter stating that he wants to give up his rights, so he doesnt go to jail. I am sickened by this first of all but my question is first, can he give them up without my consent and two if he is in jail and seeing as how it has been ordered does it just continue to add up while he is in there or does it stop? My whole thing is Iam not after the money its more that you cant bail on your responsibilities just cause you dont wanna pay and wanna avoid jail. I guess I need to know can he do this without my consent?

Yes he can give up his rights without your consent. It's very common when they have multiple children to support.

That's tricky.... I had something similar happen to me. My current husband wanted to adopt my daughter, so in order to get my ex (who NEVER saw her) to give up custody & allow the adoption, our lawyer told him that he would not have to pay child support anymore if he gave up rights.
Now, if he's in jail because he hasn't paid child support, I do not think they'll just let him out because he gave up rights, there's probably a lot more to it. From what I know, I believe you have to agree to this since he's on the birth certificate (but this isn't for sure, you'd have to call your local court).
I know it sucks, having him be able to get out of it just by signing some papers, but its probably for the best for your daughter anyway. If you agree to him giving up custody or if he is able to do it on his own, then that chapter can be closed and you won't have to worry about him -- you can move on and raise your daughter the way you want to raise her, without any worry about him at all. He will get his in the end, they always do !
Pamela

Man, I am so sorry.... This is tough.

From what I know, you would have to accept or "ok" him giving up his rights. This all depends on your state laws, you can contact a lawyer or Legal Aid to see what the state allows.

I guess it all depends on what you want. I can totally see why it upsets you. How dare he just sign a paper to make her never exist, just to not pay for what he should've been taking care of for years. Then on the other hand, if he does sign over his rights, he'll be out of her life forever. With his background, that may be the best, even though the lack of support may be difficult.

I know you'll make the right decision, stay strong and you'll do what's best for your child.

Lori