You don't have to be a child's biological or adoptive parent to become an important parental figure in that child's life. Sometimes a stepparent, former partner, relative, or another person has lived with a child, cared for that child, and functioned as a parent for years.
Then the relationship between the adults ends. Does that person have any legal rights to continue a relationship with the child?
In New Jersey, sometimes the answer is yes. The law recognizes the concept of a psychological parent.
A psychological parent is someone who is not the child's legal parent but has developed a parent-child relationship under circumstances recognized by New Jersey law.
This is much more than being close to a child.
You don't become a psychological parent simply because you love the child, spend considerable time together, or believe remaining in the child's life would be beneficial. New Jersey courts apply a specific four-part test.
The New Jersey Supreme Court established the test in V.C. v. M.J.B.
Generally, a person seeking psychological parent status must establish:
That fourth requirement is particularly important.
The issue isn't simply how much time you spent with the child. The court looks at the nature of the relationship and whether a genuine parental bond was created.
One of the most important parts of a psychological parent case is how the relationship began. The legal parent generally must have consented to and fostered the relationship between the child and the person now seeking psychological parent status.
In other words, this doctrine isn't designed to allow anyone who becomes close to a child to later demand parental rights. The circumstances under which the legal parent allowed and encouraged that parental relationship matter.
Establishing psychological parentage can have significant consequences.
Once psychological parent status is established, custody and parenting-time issues between the psychological parent and legal parent can be evaluated under the best interests of the child standard.
That doesn't mean the psychological parent automatically receives custody. It means the relationship has crossed an important legal threshold, allowing the court to consider custody or parenting time based on what's best for the child.
Psychological parent cases are highly fact-specific.
The court may need to examine who actually cared for the child, how long the parties lived together, how parenting responsibilities were handled, what the legal parent encouraged, and the nature of the bond that developed. Expert testimony may also become important when determining whether a true parent-child bond exists.
This isn't something that should be assumed simply because someone has played an important role in a child's life.
If you've spent years raising a child who isn't biologically or legally yours and you're suddenly being told you can never see that child again, don't automatically assume you have no legal options. But don't assume you're automatically a psychological parent, either.
The details matter.
How the relationship began, whether you lived together, what parental responsibilities you assumed, and the bond you developed with the child can all become important.
If you're dealing with a psychological parent or custody issue in New Jersey, call my office at (732) 845-9010 to discuss your circumstances.
Until next time,
Steve