http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/011/918sohds.aspgetting some more information then what was merely in fox news, having just reread the thing. This de-facto parent thing sounds pretty bad actually.
Quote:
And gays and lesbians are not the only ones seeking de facto parenthood; Youmans v. Ramos, one of the cases that defined de facto parenthood in Massachusetts, involved a dispute between 11-year-old Tamika's father and her aunt, who had raised Tamika while her father was away serving in the military. Nor will gays and lesbians be the only ones to suffer from the unintended consequences of creating a new class of parents, retroactively designated and detached from any foundation in biology or adoption.
This the guy was trying to get custody of his daughter but due to service it was difficult and took years. Then after getting custody of her, he is ordered not only to arrange visits but to pay the full expense of said visits. The aunt is trumping the biological father here.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=ma&vol=appslip/98p1052&invol=1 This is a woman, not a biological relative, nor was she the wife of the adopted father, or the biological father. The father didn’t want her to have further contact with the boy, and she is bringing him to court under this de facto parent judicial activism
This begins to open a whole new set of problems now that I am looking at it from the wide view. People who have no legal claim to a child any way can claim to be a de facto parent. Let me explain why this is bad.
My brother shacked up with a girl for about 6 months. I come home and meet the girl he is with, and she has a daughter. The daughter calls him daddy, my parents grandma and grandpa, and when I met here she called me “uncle.” Needless to say I was very shocked at this and a bit appalled. But that’s not what is important. About a month later my brother leaves her, they got into a fight and he left. Now under this de facto parent thing he could have tried to sue for custody of the child as a de facto parent. He met the requirements too. What is to stop him form doing this, besides the fact that he really didn’t want to.
Quote:
While de facto parenthood allows a subsequent spouse or a live-in boyfriend or girlfriend to continue their relationship with a child even after their relationship with the child's legal parent ends, it also allows them to use the threat of suing their ex-partner for de facto parenthood. And there are new potential consequences for parents who invite a family member to live with them. Will grandma want to take her grandchild with her when she moves out?
