Adoption By Step Parent

[ConfusedMom2009]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee

I have a daughter who will be 3 in December. Her birth father knew about her from the time I was about 6 months pregnant. We last spoke when she was about 9 months old and he called me at work to tell me that he was not interested in being a part of my life or hers.

I will be married to the man who has been my child's "daddy" since she was less than a year old in about a month. We definitely want to proceed with having him adpot her.

The bio father has now been charged with second degree murder and most likely will be incarcerated for a very long time.

His name is not on her birth certificate anywhere, and he has never even laid eyes on her and never even offered one penny of support.

What is the process for adoption to occur and is there any way to proceed without having to contact him?

Thanks,What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee

I have a daughter who will be 3 in December. Her birth father knew about her from the time I was about 6 months pregnant. We last spoke when she was about 9 months old and he called me at work to tell me that he was not interested in being a part of my life or hers.

I will be married to the man who has been my child's "daddy" since she was less than a year old in about a month. We definitely want to proceed with having him adpot her.

The bio father has now been charged with second degree murder and most likely will be incarcerated for a very long time.

His name is not on her birth certificate anywhere, and he has never even laid eyes on her and never even offered one penny of support.

What is the process for adoption to occur and is there any way to proceed without having to contact him?

Thanks,What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

You will definitely need an attorney. This is not a do-it-yourself project.

By the way, Dad is not required to pay support, not even one penny, till he is ordered by a court to do so. You didn't file, you didn't establish paternity and neither did he: neither of you protected your child's rights legally.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee

I have a daughter who will be 3 in December. Her birth father knew about her from the time I was about 6 months pregnant. We last spoke when she was about 9 months old and he called me at work to tell me that he was not interested in being a part of my life or hers.

I will be married to the man who has been my child's "daddy" since she was less than a year old in about a month. We definitely want to proceed with having him adpot her.

The bio father has now been charged with second degree murder and most likely will be incarcerated for a very long time.

His name is not on her birth certificate anywhere, and he has never even laid eyes on her and never even offered one penny of support.

What is the process for adoption to occur and is there any way to proceed without having to contact him?

Thanks,What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

You definitely need to be consulting an adoption attorney. This is absolutely NOT a DIY project. In many states the abandonment laws allow for adoption to happen without the permission of the biological father if, after a certain amount of time the biological father made no effort to establish paternity.

However mom...you and your soon to be husband also need to seriously consider some additional factors before you decide to proceed with a stepparent adoption.

If he adopts your child he will be her father as if he was her biological father. That means that if the two of you divorce in the future, he will have just as much right to custody as you would have, and one of you will be responsible for child support if the other receives custody.

You BOTH have to be sure that you can live with that...whatever the outcome. If either of you is unsure that you can live with that, then its better that a stepparent adoption not happen...or that if it happens, it happens after several years of happy marriage.

 

[Silverplum]

You definitely need to be consulting an adoption attorney. This is absolutely NOT a DIY project.

In many states the abandonment laws allow for adoption to happen without the permission of the biological father if, after a certain amount of time the biological father made no effort to establish paternity.

What about in TENNESSEE? That's OP's state.

If you write it, you really ought to back it up with a fact or two. A link to a govt (credible) website that gives the applicable laws.

Or do you expect the Confused Mom to do her own research? Or one of us, because we hate it when you do this?

 

[Proserpina]

What about in TENNESSEE? That's OP's state.

If you write it, you really ought to back it up with a fact or two. A link to a govt (credible) website that gives the applicable laws.

Or do you expect the Confused Mom to do her own research? Or one of us, because we hate it when you do this?

Don't be hatin' on the Pro for stepping in I actually dug this up for someone else (on another forum) just a few days ago.

http://www.reliableadoption.com/states/tennessee_adoption.html


Yes, abandonment is a consideration. But OP's attorney will surely be able to 'splain further.

 

[Silverplum]

Tennessee Stepparent Adoption Documents

Adoptions In Tennessee

36-1-102. Part definitions.

Nothing I've read supports the "idea" that Confused Mom can skip the normal legal process.

Everything I've read supports the fact that Mom MUST go through the normal legal process.

 

[Proserpina]

Tennessee Stepparent Adoption Documents

Adoptions In Tennessee

36-1-102. Part definitions.

Nothing I've read supports the "idea" that Confused Mom can skip the normal legal process.

Everything I've read supports the fact that Mom MUST go through the normal legal process.

WE are an AWESOME team

 

[Silverplum]

Don't be hatin' on the Pro for stepping in I actually dug this up for someone else (on another forum) just a few days ago.

http://www.reliableadoption.com/states/tennessee_adoption.html


Yes, abandonment is a consideration. But OP's attorney will surely be able to 'splain further.

Yes, that's one of the sites I just posted.

However, here's a copy/paste from the bishoplaw site:
"If a putative father has not registered with the Putative Father Registry but otherwise receives notice of pending proceedings for termination of his parental rights and/or for the adoption of the child by another, he has 30 days from receipt of notice to file a lawsuit to establish his parentage or to intervene in the adoption proceedings or termination of parental rights proceedings for the purpose of establishing a claim to parentage of the child or to present a defense to the termination or adoption case. Failure to act shall be grounds for the Court where the adoption or termination proceedings are pending to terminate the parental rights of the putative father."


NOTHING about "ignoring" or "skipping" the putative father.

 

[Silverplum]

WE are an AWESOME team

WE ARE!!

And I would never "hate on" the Pro for popping in. Never.