I have tow kids and the Biological father has not seen or contacted them in about 9 months now. I just recently moved to Russellville, AR from Missouri and I need to know how long can a father go without seeing a kid to abandoment and what do I need to do to get his rights taken away? I need to know so My new husband and my kids can get on with our lives.:confused:

You need to hire a family law attorney so that the proper papers can be filed. Now, you cannot have his rights "taken" away, he will have to voluntarily give them up in order for the adoption to take place.

Terminating parental rights, especially involuntarily is not easy. It will involvr getting an attorney and a possible court battle.

Why do you need this to "get on" with your lives. Why would you sever your kids from their father?

Do you and the bio father have any court ordered visitation?
If so, in most cases, you would have need the consent from the father to move out of state with the children regardless of his current relationship with the kids, so that fact (if it applies) may hinder you in trying to terminate his rights.

Is there a court ordered child support? If so, has he been paying?

In Ohio, it is a minimum of 6 months with no contact AND no child support. At that time you can file abadonment charges and petition to have his rights terminated. Once in court, the judge would have to decide if it is in the best interest of the children to terminate the rights of the bio father and allow your husband to adopt them. If they bio father in any way fight it, you are in for an uphill battle which will most likely result in the bio father keeping all his rights.

You could contact the father and ask him to willingly sign over his rights to allow the children to be adopted. In this case, it is much easier to do.

Only 6 months Mack? I know in many states it is as much as 7 YEARS with no contact AND no support. Six months seems like an incredibly short time.

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Originally Posted by J_9

Only 6 months Mack? I know in many states it is as much as 7 YEARS with no contact AND no support. Six months seems like an incredibly short time.

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Yep... just 6 months in Ohio.

But that is just the minimum to petition to have the rights terminated. I know from being in the situation myself. My attorney was going to petition to have my daughters bio fathers rights terminated. At the time it had been over a year since he had seen her or paid child support. My attorney said with the proof of no interest it would be rather easy to do, but I didn't have anyone to adopt her in his place so we never went forward.

Comments on this post
schlude07 disagrees: because I was the asking the ? Not him and the reason is he is not trying to see them and he is a drug adicted abuser

First, may I call your attention to the guidelines for using the comments feature found here:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/feedba...ure-24951.html

Second, we often ask for more info when responding. This is so we can provide the most accurate help. One of the valid reasons for termination is when the parent presents a danger to the children, but this is not easy to prove.

That your husband is willing to adopt will be a big help. But it would be a lot easier if you can just get the bio father to agree.

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Originally Posted by schlude07

I have tow kids and the Biological father has not seen or contacted them in about 9 months now. i just recently moved to Russellville, AR from Missouri and I need to know how long can a father go without seeing a kid to abandoment and what do I need to do to get his rights taken away? I need to know so My new husband and my kids can get on with our lives.:confused:

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Well I am in that same pos but sense you moved he can say he has no way of seeing the child I got my ex to sign over his rights then my husband can take over I just told him he would not have to pay anymore child saport.