I was wanting to know if any one might know about the laws in Arkansas for adoption. I've tried looking for my answers but I'm not to bright at this. I was wondering that when a child is adopted if child support from the other father stops? And will he still have to pay back child support that he owes or will that just be dropped when the adoption is final.

In order for a child to be adopted, parental rights have to be terminated or you must get the consent of the parent or other person who may have guardianship of the child (court, guardian, etc. Kind of scary that Arkansas state statute also says that the "spouse of the minor to be adopted" can give consent... ewwww that gives me the heebie jeebies! But anyway... ). As for if child support would continue, once adoption takes place the child is now the financial responsibility of the adoptor, the order for child support should be closed at that time. Back child support, more than likely, is actually due to the state, particularly if the child and their family have benefited from a welfare program such as ADC or Food Stamps. The state will continue to collect it's debt, regardless of if the child has been adopted...

To follow up on that though, I recommend you look at this site and check with the Child Support Enforcement agency in your area.

State Child Support Enforcement Web Sites (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/extinf.html)

You can check the following site for more information on adoption in Arkansas...

State Statutes (http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/state/index.cfm?event=stateStatutes.showSearchForm)

The bio father no longer has to pay child support after the child is adopted, the new adopted father has all the responsibility, in fact if the adopted father and the mother later split, the adopted father has to pay child support

As far as I understand from things I have read the bio parent that terminates their rights is no longer required to pay support once the adoption takes place, however if they were in arrearrs for any amount of support that debt is still their responsibility. The adoptive parent obtains all responsibilities after the adoption but the prior debt is still the responsibility of the bio-parent.

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