Termination of rights for step-parent adoption

[mrswright]

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

I have 2 sons (6 & 7) from a previous marriage (in WA state, although the kids were born in Idaho and that's where we reside now) that my husband of 2.5 years would like to adopt. I have heard from my ex sporadically through facebook messages, although he hasn't seen the kids for over 3 years and I recently found out that he is in prison until the end of the year for drug related offenses. I have been in contact with my attorney regarding adoption and am meeting with him next week to start the process. I forgot to ask him, however, how we are going to go about terminating parental rights. I know in Idaho, felony incarceration is grounds for involuntary termination of parental rights, but I am wondering if it would be unwise of me to write to him and ask him if he will do it voluntarily. I don't want him involved in their lives, but I feel like it's the right thing to do to let him know personally that I want his parental rights terminated. Could that affect the case if we were to have to go for involuntary termination? Obviously I know that I should talk to my attorney about this (which I will), but he is out of the office until next week and I'm too impatient to wait! Thanks for any advice.

 

[Silverplum]

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

I have 2 sons (6 & 7) from a previous marriage (in WA state, although the kids were born in Idaho and that's where we reside now) that my husband of 2.5 years would like to adopt. I have heard from my ex sporadically through facebook messages, although he hasn't seen the kids for over 3 years and I recently found out that he is in prison until the end of the year for drug related offenses. I have been in contact with my attorney regarding adoption and am meeting with him next week to start the process. I forgot to ask him, however, how we are going to go about terminating parental rights. I know in Idaho, felony incarceration is grounds for involuntary termination of parental rights, but I am wondering if it would be unwise of me to write to him and ask him if he will do it voluntarily. I don't want him involved in their lives, but I feel like it's the right thing to do to let him know personally that I want his parental rights terminated. Could that affect the case if we were to have to go for involuntary termination? Obviously I know that I should talk to my attorney about this (which I will), but he is out of the office until next week and I'm too impatient to wait! Thanks for any advice.

I wouldn't do a thing without your attorney, if I were you. You could blow your case.

You should be patient and listen to your attorney.

 

[LeemonGator]

I wouldn't do a thing without your attorney, if I were you. You could blow your case.

You should be patient and listen to your attorney.

THIS.

Sending him a letter could really do you in if he rushes to file for visitation/parenting time.

Going to need to learn some patience if you are going to be dealing with courts.

 

[mrswright]

THIS.

Sending him a letter could really do you in if he rushes to file for visitation/parenting time.

Going to need to learn some patience if you are going to be dealing with courts.

Ok, I'm not trying to be impatient. I'm trying to do the right thing. I would rather him hear it from me than be served papers. Regardless of what he has done in his past and the fact that he doesn't support his children, I still care about his feelings as a person and feel like it is the RIGHT thing to do whether or not it's the SMART thing to do. Anyway, I don't see how he could file for temporary visitation or parenting time when he is incarcerated by Washington DOC until at least November. We have discussed him possibly signing over his rights in the past, so it's not like this is going to be a huge surprise either way.