Stepparents As 'De Facto' Parents: The US Supreme Court Weighs Inby Nicki Bradley | More from this Blogger 18 May 2006 08:02 AM The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling this week that outlines a new classification of parent: the 'de facto' parent. This classification affects anyone who acts in the role of a parent without a blood connection to the child. The case the Supreme Court let stand was that of a lesbian couple who shared a child and eventually split. The child was carried via artificial insemination by one woman but shared no blood connection to the other. However, both women acted as parents for the full seven years of this child's life. Did one parent have more rights over the child than the other simply because of shared genes? The court said no. Both parents share parental rights and therefore have equal right to pursue shared parental rights upon their split. Although one parent was biologically linked to the child, the other acted as a 'de facto' parent for the entirety of the child's life. A 'de facto' parent is a person who acts in a parental capacity for a child despite the presence of a biological or adoptive link to the child. Same gender parents may be one example of de facto parents. Stepparents are another. De facto parental status has been awarded in many states over the last 20 years but this is the first time that a case has been taken in front of the US Supreme Court. The ruling to let the de facto status, originally determined in this case by Washington State, stand opens the doors to rights and responsibilities for not only same gender parents but also stepparents across the country. As it stands, very few states allow stepparents any rights. When rights are awarded or acknowledged by a given state, they are usually limited in scope. Many states are not clear at all on what rights a stepparent holds. Some states do not allow a stepparent to sign a child's school forms, take the child for medical care. Some states allow for these things and even allow stepparents to sue for custody or visitation rights of their stepchildren should the marriage end. With stepfamilies growing so quickly in numbers, it is only a matter of time before stepparents rights are decided by the courts. The US Supreme Court, by letting the Washington Court's decision to acknowledge de facto parenting rights stand, may have finally opened the flood gates for stepparenting rights across the nation. Learn more about Nicki Bradley  I live in the suburbs of Detroit and I'm happily re-married with six children (3 his, 2 mine, 1 ours) ranging in age from 3.5 to 12. Relevantparenting tags User Comments  Lessly (57396) 26 Sep 2006 04:07 PMI wish that this applied here in Canada. My DH is my sons father in every way but blood. My DS calls him daddy and has known him since he was 1yr though according to the courts he has no legal say at all! I hope this can come here to as it is true, that with so many blended families..,just because you have a 'blood link" does not mean you dont act in every other way as a parent to that child. b_mule (10) 15 Nov 2007 02:02 PMas a NCP i resent the idea that a step-parent could possibly have greater legal status with my child. it only serves the CP on a convenience level, as they need to keep the "step" interested in children from prior marriages. and since divorced people tend to divorce again do we give all future step-parents "de facto" rights? what if there are multiple marriages. it think is is a better idea to re-enforce natural parents as they are always constant in their children's lives. divorce or not, new relationships come and go these days, making natural parent bonds even more important. this was one case that could open a very harmful legal precedence.  Xercius (19) 26 Nov 2007 10:44 PMI will have to partly disagree with the comment made by b_mule. I agree that custody of children should not be given out nonchalantly, great care should be taken to assure the children are provided with the best home from the choices available. But I disagree as well, and the following will reveal why. I am a parent of two boys, 4 and 6 years old. I suppose you could legally refer to me as the step parent of my eldest son, but I have never considered that of myself. I am his Father. I became his father when he was 8 months old, his biological father has not and will never be a part of his life in any capacity. 20 months ago my wife decided to leave me with very little warning, she took both my children with her and moved 2000 miles away. After 2 months she agreed to send both children back to me, for the next 10 months I raised them alone, she came to visit them twice and never asked for them back, she also sent very little in the way of finances to assist me. During this time I found out she was living with another man and that my marriage was truly over, things escalated and I suddenly became afraid that she would swoop in and try to take one or both of my children despite our agreements. At that time, 12 months after she left, 10 months after I started raising the children alone, I filed for Divorce and filed a limited restraining order preventing the kids from leaving the state of Washington (my wife lives in another state, 1500 miles away). Once a temporary parenting plan was put into place (an order we both agreed on, including granting me de facto parent status), we dropped the restraining order so that it would not go on my wifes record. She agreed that I would keep the kids for the school year and that she would get them for the summer, so after filing (in March of 2007) I had the kids until June, then they went to stay with their mother for 9 weeks. Near the end her lawyer filed something to try to take my rights over my oldest son away from me, it failed. But in the process my trial, set for August, was pushed back until November. Now, my trial was supposed to be last week, but the week prior her lawyer filed another motion to dismiss my oldest son from the case, based upon a new case that just completed at the beginning of this month. Now, my new trial has been set for the two days prior to Valentines Day in 2008, a hearing was held today to essentially determine if I have any rights to my oldest son. We are waiting to hear the judges decision, it could be tommarow, it could be weeks from now and it is killing me. I AM his father and I deserve those rights regardless of what the judge finds. All the de facto parent stuff does is provide me with the legal basis to be considered on par with my wife for determining what is in the best interests of my children. While people run around blabbering about my wife's rights being violated they trample all over the rights of my children. Who's rights are more important, the rights of the parents or the rights of the children? Doesn't my son deserve to have a father legally recognized by the court? Should I not have the same legal rights and responsibilities as their mother? In Love and Responsibility I will always be his father, both my children are equally my sons, biology does not matter, all that matters is my love for my children and my love of being a father. My son does not even yet know that there is a biological difference between he and I. Xercius (19) 26 Nov 2007 10:48 PMI forgot to mention one important detail. Many parties involved in my divorce case believe I have a strong chance of winning. It is, in this case, in the best interests of my children. So as you may have noted in my comment above, my 'wife' and her lawyer have only been focusing on trying to prevent me from even having rights to my oldest son. I am the only father he will ever know, how is that in his best interests? The course of action they just took could result in him being pulled out of kindergarten and suddenly moved 1500 miles away, separating him from his brother until at least February when the trial is held. How is that good for him? How is it good for him to be without his mother for so long? this is her choice, I did not up and move 2000 miles away. She has chosen her boyfriend over her children and now she intends on taking them away from my and the rest of both our families.  Crystal (98) 03 Mar 2008 08:43 PMVery interesting blog. It is extremely hard to set laws that say it will go one way or the other in all situations because they are all so different. I have actually never heard of the term "de facto" until now. Being a full time step parent myself I can completely understand a situation where the step parent wants custody. I am a homemaker and my husband works outside of the home, meaning I am a full time parent to my step son. His mother has custody of his sister. It is a split custody arrangement. My husband's ex-wife is bipolar and is a poor parent. She comes close to crossing a lot of lines when it comes to raising my step daughter but never enough for it to go to court. I would absolutely be best if my step daughter were living with us but she is of age to choose for herself and is extremely attached to her mother, as a pal not a parent. I am in the type situation that if something ever happened to my husband I would want custody of my step son. Firstly, his mother had the chance of raising him and the results compared to his Dad's and my raising him are drastically different. Everything about my step son was in poor condition after only six months of living with his mother. Secondly, it is my husband's wish that I have custody. And lastly, I have been his primary parent for half his life. Add in all the factors of school change, environment change, no visitation from her when he has siblings here if she gained custody and I have every right to fight for custody. However, I know that it would be an up hill battle. And I believe that it should be an uphill battle. It should be hard for a step parent to get custody from a biological parent. If you want and deserve that child and it is in the best interest of that child it should be proved against all odds. It is a test of the true love of a parent to a child who is not biologically linked to them. Community Tags adoption, de facto, 'de facto' parent, parents, parenting, step parents, Washington Discuss this article
|
Parents categories |
