Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Financial and Legal rights of Step Parents and Parents
I know that this is the topic of the debate that we will be having on friday but without being placed on a side to argue by Raj, what are your thoughts? When children are involved and people remarry who should be considered the parents legally. If a biological parent is not present in a childs life other than say child support, who is qualified to make legal decisions regarding health care or school? I beilieve that the best thing for the child would be to have the parent figure that is around to make the basic daily decisions in their life make the major decisions for them. Should the laws be changed so that a step parent is automatically considered a legal guardian? Do you think that this would cause more problems than its worth via family arguments between biological parents and step parents? Should the laws consider the reason for divorce and the biological and step parents background and make the decision for the families with step parents regarding legal rights to the child? One last question is, do you think that if a step parent has all the legal rights of a biological parent, would it help the step parent feel closer to the child as a parent?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think that in most cases the biological parent should be considered the legal parent and no one else, if a child's parents were to become seperated and remarry they should act as another father or mother figure for the child but the biological parent should make all final decisions in the child's life. Although, I do agree that the best role model and "parent" figure for the child should be the the adult that is in the child's life the majority of the time,and be able to help make daily decisions. I do not necessarily think that the laws should be changed to automatically make the "step parent" a legal guardian because it could cause confusion to the child and would more than likely cause many family arguments which could be very uncomfortable for the children. If there is a case of the biological parent never being around or not being a good influence in the child's life I do think that the court could decide to grant another parent figure more rights to the child. As for the last question, I do think that the step parent would feel a lot closer bond to the child if they were granted legal rights but I don't however think that is the only way or right way to become closer to the child, if they want to develope a strong bond they can go about that in many other ways as well.
ReplyDeleteA child will usually have a legal guardian to make those decisions for them. Whether it is an adopted family, foster parents or grandparents who to the child in to make school and health care decisions. I think a step parent should have a choice of whether or not they want to be the legal guardian or also if the child would like that should be taken into consideration also.
ReplyDeletei think it just depends because my cousin has a baby and the father doesnt want anything to do with the baby just pay the child support and nothing else he dosent want to see her or nothing i think in cases like this he should have no right to make any decisons in her life and in cases similar to this they dont shoulnt make any choices about the childs life! but i think if the child has both biological parents that have some part in there life then they should be the ones to make the decisons i think it just depends on every individual case.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard debate because there are many different situations out there. I do agree with Ashley S. situation that her cousin is in. But from my own personal experience with my boyfriend he wants to be a part of his daughter’s life, but the mother is the one that won’t let him. You have situations where they want to be involved as much as possible but the most they can do is what the other person allows them to do. I do not think that laws should be changed so that step parents automatically be considered a legal guardian. I do think that there would be more family arguments.
ReplyDeleteShould the laws be changed so that a step parent is automatically considered a legal guardian? I don’t think that the laws should be changed so that the step parent is the legal guardian. I don think that step parents should need a title of mom or dad in order for them to fill the roles of a parent. I think if a step parent wants to act as a mother or father figure they should do so, but not expect the child to call them mom or dad unless that’s what the child wants.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that this would cause more problems than its worth via family arguments between biological parents and step parents? Yes.
Should the laws consider the reason for divorce and the biological and step parents background and make the decision for the families with step parents regarding legal rights to the child? I don’t think courts should have the right to deny someone their parent role, unless there where circumstances proving that they could cause harm to the child physically, or emotionally.
One last question is, do you think that if a step parent has all the legal rights of a biological parent, would it help the step parent feel closer to the child as a parent? I don’t think step parents should need to have these rights to feel closer to the child. They should be happy for the relationship they have with the child.
I do not believe that the laws should be changed for a step-parent to become a legal guardian after a remarriage. I agree with Megan that the parents should'nt necissarily need the legal title of mom or dad becuase I believe it should be up to the family and the children to decide what type of role the step-parent will have. I think the only time a step-parent should automatically become a legal guardian is if the biological parent of the child dies and that leaves the child with the step-parent as their only parent, and in this case I believe it should be changed. I do believe that if this were made the case it would cause problems between the biological and step parents becuase I think the biological parent should have more say in their childs life, but if the law is changed to give them equal power I would think there would be a lot of confrontation between the two sets. So basically I don't think that the law should be changed to make the step parent an automatic guardian becuase these situations vary so much case by case, but if the child and the Step-parent have a good enough relationship I think they should have the choice to make them the legal guardian.
ReplyDeleteIf theres one thing that i know for sure about divorces is that there are many cases were both partners absolutely adore their children. If laws were but into place to deny their priveledge of wearing a "parent badge" i think the repercussions would be severe. Having a spiteful ex-wife have 100% control over whether you have any rights of your child is a scary thought to say the least. The only possible solution would be a joint-parenthood, where both sides have an equal share of the child. As for step-parents entering marriages with child, and then not assuming full responsible, one can only ask, then why enter in the first place?
ReplyDeleteI feel that if the both biological parents want to be the main authority,and are both suited to do so, than they should have legal guardianship over their own children. In certain cases though, I do feel that the step parent should be granted legal guardianship. for instance if one of the parents die and then the widowing parent decides to get married again, and both step parent and child are accepting of the new situation than the step parent should have legal rights to the child. Also, say their is a parent who chooses not to be part of a child'd life and the primary care giving parent marries someone who does want to be an active part of the child's life, than they should get legal right's to the child also. overall, if both biological parents are actively engaging in the child's life and want to be the legal authority than they should be, but in some cases the step parent may be suited to provide care and be granted legal guardianship.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that a step parent should be automatically a legal guardian. It's not fair the the child. I have a boyfriend that is a child of divorce and his mom has remarried going on the second time. He stills has a dad near by so he never considered the step dads his parent. He did not like them telling him what to do as if they were his biological dad. I think that having to adopt the mom's/dad's kids is the best way to deal with the subject that way if the child is old enough to make his/ her choice to allow that person to be there mom or dad
ReplyDelete