Father Reliquishing Parental Rights

[wiugirl]

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

Background:

My husband is interested in adopting my son (10 yrs old). I was not married to my sons father. His father owes approx $8,000 in back support and has never requested visitation and has only seen my son once in the past 10 yrs. His father is believed to be living in California but we are unsure of his address.

Question 1:
What if we cannot find my sons father? Is there a period of time that goes by in which it can be considered abandonement and my husband can adopt w/out consent?

Question 2:
If we find his dad and he does not want to give up his parental rights, would a judge consider my sons opinion/feelings to rule in our favor of an adoption?

Question 3:
What happens to the $8,000 back support? Can we forgive the money owed as a way to gain consent from the father to reliquinish his parental rights?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[ecmst12]

In many states, it is illegal to forgive child support or offer any other monetary consideration for giving up parental rights. For a reason.

You should consult a lawyer, you would need one for a step parent adoption anyway.

 

[Hisbabygirl77]

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

Background:

My husband is interested in adopting my son (10 yrs old). I was not married to my sons father. His father owes approx $8,000 in back support and has never requested visitation and has only seen my son once in the past 10 yrs. His father is believed to be living in California but we are unsure of his address.

Question 1:
What if we cannot find my sons father? Is there a period of time that goes by in which it can be considered abandonement and my husband can adopt w/out consent?

Question 2:
If we find his dad and he does not want to give up his parental rights, would a judge consider my sons opinion/feelings to rule in our favor of an adoption?

Question 3:
What happens to the $8,000 back support? Can we forgive the money owed as a way to gain consent from the father to reliquinish his parental rights?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

If you can not find the father considering you have only seen the ex once in 10 years you should be able to notify him by publication of the adoption. I myself just used an attorney to draw up the paper work and did the rest myself. Also, you may want to ask the court house if they have any kind of program that helps with adoptions. In my city they just started one at no cost except for the fee for a home study as that is done by a different agency. Also, normally the period of time for abandoment is around 1 year. It varies from state to state.