termination of rights in Texas

[christinelay]

My ex husband wants to give up his rights to our 4.5 year old Autistic son.  I am for it 100 percent but he is now telling me that the court cost is going to be $250.  He has offered to split it with me but I'm not sure how I got stuck paying for any of this when he wants to give up the rights to our son.  He said, and I quote "Actually I'm not responsible for the cost.  In texas it's the responsibility of the adopting parent and the sole custodian."  My husband (who does want to adopt my son) is in the Army so we don't make a lot of money and on top of that my son has Autism so any extra money we do have go towards taking care of his every need.  I can't seem to find anything online that tells me exactly the cost and who should pay and on sites like this one everyone is giving different info.  I would like to get all of this done before my husband deploys this fall.  HELP!

[stik]

At this point, since his parental responsibilities have not been severed, your ex owes child support for your son.  If he wants to terminate that obligation, a one-time payment of $250 seems low.  

You and your dh will be responsible for the legal fees associated with his adoption of your son, which will not be cheap either.  

I don't know the legalities, but it seems to me like you could offer your ex a choice between continuing to pay child support until he is no longer legally liable because of your son's age, or paying the fee to terminate his rights.  He might be using the money issue to try to say that he doesn't actually want to terminate, in an oblique and passive-aggressive way.  You might make some headway if you respond sympathetically - of course, you understand if he doesn't want to terminate for any reason and would prefer to have a relationship with his son, what would he like the next step to be?  How can you facilitate this?  

I don't know anything about your situation, though, and there might be excellent reasons to avoid that approach.  

[christinelay]

Thanks! My ex is ready to give up his rights.  He hasn't seen our son in 2 years and didn't live with us while we were married.  There is a lot of drama to this but I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to keep his rights.  He never checks on him and when he does he just asks if he's talk and if the "autism is any better."  But I will throw out the whole either pay child support or pay for this to be done thing.  $250 once sure does beat $520 every month until your child is 18.

[lac_2233]

I am wondering why if your ex hasn't seen him and is required to pay support that your family and son need why you would want this?  I would think it would be better financially to keep it the way it is, but I understand there is an emotional aspect to your current husband adopting.

I also live in Texas and call the atty gen all the time!  Here's the web site for starters: https://www.oag.state.tx.us/cs/index.shtml    and here isthe    

And here is the phone number [phone] .  When you call keep going to speak to someone and ask them for the number for a free atty hotline.  I have called them with general questions and they should be able to tell you the cost and proceedure for this type of case.  Hope that helps!  Good luck!

[ZoeyZoo]

Just throwing this idea out there but do any of you have an Employer Assistance Program (EAP)? They usually will help with adoptions and many benefits programs also reimburse adoption fees. I've always gone the corporate route so I have no idea about military or what you ex does but this has been available in most places I've worked.