Note: The DearEsq free 'ask a lawyer' site is offered as a free informational service to the public and is not intended as legal advice. Laws vary from state-to-state, and in addition every situation is unique, and relevant facts may not be known. The answer to the question posed below may not apply to in your state or to your situation. For legal advice in your state and your situation you should consult with an attorney in your state who is familiar with the rules and laws in your state.
‘Hi, I have a question and I am in Ohio. My son’s father is currently incarcerated for attempted rape on his daughter from a previous relationship. He will be a tier 3 sex offender when he gets out and for the rest of his life. I do not want him to seek visitation with my son and want to get his parental visitation rights terminated. I know this will be fairly easy to do given his sex offender status. However I still feel like he needs to be financially responsible for our son. My question is can I have his visitation rights terminated but still receive child support?’If you have his rights terminated, then the court will not be able to order him to pay child support on a child that, in the eyes of the law, is no longer his. At this point you have to weigh your options
and decide which is more important to you: the child support and relationship between your son and his father or your concerns about the father’s ability to parent.
Question: As importantly, no matter what your ex has done, your son *has a right* to *know* his father, good or bad, and will likely come to resent you (as an adult, if not sooner) if you sever his connection to his father.
