Father Tested Positive

[mother_of_kade]

I recently went back to court with my 16 month old daughter's case. Her father was not around the first year of her life and paid nothing. In September I took him to court for child support and he was put on a step up visitation plan. Here we are in January and he had missed 3 visits, so I took him back and ordered a drug test. I just got the results last night and I am at a loss of words. He tested positive for cocaine use. What are my options right now and can he lose any type of rights due to this. I am getting married in 6 months and my fiance wants to adopt my child. Can he adopt her before we are married due to this evidence?

[HelpingHands]

You would need to ask the court to order supervised visitations, pending clean testing. The father has to give up his rights(or his rights be terminated) before your new husband can adopt her.

Does he want to be involved in her life? Does he want to give up rights, so your new husband can adopt her? Have you discussed any of it with him?

[mistoffolees]

Your new husband can not adopt the child unless the father gives up parental rights. The courts are very hestiant to terminate rights, though. If the father wants to give up his rights, he can, but don't count on it happening.

As for the cocaine thing, I'm not sure how far you're going to get with this. The father can simply claim that he doesn't know how the child was exposed to cocaine and that he thinks it was while the child was in your custody.

You would need to convince the court to order testing for everyone involved and by then the cocaine might be out of the father's system. If you have a test for the child before visting the father which shows him to be clean and then contaminated after visiting, that woiuld help.

Bottom line is that you need PROOF rather than suspicion (no matter how sure you are in your own mind).

[janM]

Didn't she say the father tested positive, not the child?

I agree that he needs to be supervised with the child until he can test clean.

[mistoffolees]

I interpreted it to say that the child tested positive - since she said she ordered the test. I can't imagine how she could have ordered the father to take the test.

[Ref]

It seems clear that she is referring to the dad. The title of the post is " Father Tested Positive" and in it she says "he" tested positive for cocaine use. They share a daughter.

Anyway, as the others said, I think you should ask the court to order supervised visitation until he can be tested further and have say 6 months of clean tests???

I also agree that they will probably not take his rights away. He is technically not hurting your daughter by using when she is not around him. Usually this is enough to chang custody, but seeing as that you have primary, I think they would limit visitation to supervised.

Good Luck
Ref

[mistoffolees]

On reading it again, you're probably right.

I'm just wondering how she managed to order a drug test for the father.