undoing an adoption

[orly]

my significant other has a daughter in which he helped raise for several years. The mother of the daughter and he went to court and she got custody. He was asked to pay child support. He did so sometimes and very inconsistently, he was 17 and not very responsible. The mother said that she does want him to see the daughter and for years the daughter has visited. Three years ago, the mother remarried and wanted the daughter to have the step-fathers last name. She contacted us and told the natural father that if he did not agree to give up his name she would bring him back to court, and make his life hell, and make him pay all the money now. Ignorant and naive, the natural father signed the paper because he knew he did not have the money. The mother said that the family would still be able to see the little girl but, now she has decided she doesnt want us to see the girl. The natural father now wants to fight for hid daughter because he feels that he was manipulated into giving up his daughter. The daughter is also eleven years old and wants to see her father and grandparents. What is our chance??We are in NY

[Edited by orly on 01-21-2001 at 11:34 AM]

 

[MySonsMom]

You stated that the Mother only wanted to give the child her step Father's last name...That is not an adoption. Or did the child get adopted by the stepFather which then changed his last name? Your post is inconsistant and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If he simply signed for the name change then he still has rights. If he signed a relinguishing of parental rights/adoption then he has NO rights. (unless there was a stipulation, which it doesn't sound like there was) So if this is the case, the Mother and Father (ex step Father) are now the sole parents to this child and your hubby has no say or rights. If they wish not to allow your hubby to see her, they are within their rights.