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Speak Up! - View Question #152 |
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Question: What rights do stepparents have in the care of step-kids?
Answer: Stepparents have no specific rights over their stepchildren. The biological parent has decision-making authority over the children in all matters related to the child's health and upbringing. In other words, the stepparent can't consent to medical care, can't sign paperwork for school, etc.
A stepparent who has acted as parent for a child for a long time, and who is now being divorced from the biological parent, may have some visitation rights if a judge decides the relationship is in the child's best interests.
Even though the stepparent has no rights relative to the child, if the stepparent is a custodian of the child, that adult can make certain control / discipline decisions affecting the child in the absence of a biological parent. A stepmother, for example, who is taking care of the child during the father's absence on a business trip, can set curfew, mealtimes, and other rules that affect childhood discipline while the child is in the care of that adult.
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| Comments |
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On 05/09/09
Jennie from NE said:
My children now live with their father and Stepmother and I keep constant contact with my children. However there stepmother has my children calling her mom and they have to call me by my first name. Due that my x-husbaand gives into her every lil whim he has made it up to her if I get to see my kids, She keeps denying me my visitation, and talks bad about me in front of my children. Is there a law against her denying me the right to see my children and also downgrading me to and in front of them???
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On 05/08/09
jp from UT said:
What i want to know is why i have raised my step daughter for 2.5 years while her donor has been in prison. I have carried health insurance, paid for 100% of everything she is now 6 and calls me dad and i have 0 right to her or her records. I pay for her private school, sports, etc. Now he gets out and is fighting for full custody and i have to just sit back and pay for the lawyer and i have no say. Something has got to give!!!
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On 05/04/09
SN from LA said:
Well I am a step mother to 2 beautiful little boys that were left by there biological mother 2 1/2 years ago, no contact, we did not even know where she was, all of a sudden she decides to take us to court and we now have to let her have visitation unsupervised at the expense of the kids emotions and confusion. Although I was there and continue to be there on a daily basis for them, mothers day, she gets them all day, for what?? Carrying them for 9 months??? It takes a lot more to be a mother. Anyone can have a child but not everyone can be a Mother.
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On 05/04/09
marr from LA said:
If the stepparents feel as though they are "equal" or better than a biological parent they shouldn't be upset if anyone does the same to theirs. I could just take your child to the doctor and tell them that I am their mother because I happen to marry into it. No need for medical history or such, right? What if you happen to divorce this person a year from now? Does that change anything? Oh, you are now their mother so their bio dad would be the next person you try to alienate from them right?
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On 04/29/09
AC from MI said:
Each of you made the decision to enter into a marriage where you became a stepparent. Wakeup call, if you are NOT the biological/legal parent, you have NO rights. You knew the law and the risks going in, now you claim are a victim, and scream unfair! Do you honestly expect the whole legal system to bend & mold just because it doesn't suit you? Have any of you considered the flip side of this? The same laws that you are protesting, are protecting you and your own biological children. Have you all forgotten the golden rule or are you just blinded by selfish ambitions?
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