My name is Jennifer. I live in Alaska and cannot get help on how to get this started.
I have a little girl who is nine. My husband has been fathering my child since she was 4 yrs old. My daughters biological daughter has not seen or contacted her in at least 3 yrs now. He is nearly 20 thousand behind in child support payments, and I am lucky if I see child support payments more then once a yr. He has two other children with another lady and I would like to relinguish his parental rights. I am wondering what the law in Alaska is on child abondement, and what my chances are of having him relinguish parental rights.
My husband would like to adopt her, but we need to have him relinguish his parental rights. I cannot seem to find information on how to start this process. I do not make a lot of money, so I am worried about how I would be able to afford a lawyer. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME, I AM DESPERATE.

Do you know his whereabouts? You'll have to contact him to get his consent for your husband to adopt, or at least demonstrate to the court that you've made a good faith attempt to do so. If he cannot be located after proper notice has been given and the prescribed waiting period has expired then the adoption can proceed without his consent.

Every law in every state is different, but similar. For starters if you have a court order regarding child support payments get that enforced. I know he has not been an active member in your daughters life but that money is for her and it always helps. Now I am not sure what your custody/visitation situation is with the man. Now I am not 100% sure but with the way he has neglected his responsibility as a parent you have a strong case to obtain full custody of the child and possibly have him relinquish his parental rights. At the fact that he is behind in child support payments he might not even show up for the court date because he could face jail time. It would be useful to talk to a lawyer in your state. There are some lawyers that will discuss your case with you free of charge. They will let you know your options and what avenue you can take. Also look and see if your state has a legal aid program. They help people who don't have a lot of money for a lawyer. You can possibly get a lawyer free of charge depending on your financial status.

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Originally Posted by lsreally

Every law in every state is different, but similar. For starters if you have a court order regarding child support payments get that enforced. I know he has not been an active member in your daughters life but that money is for her and it always helps. Now I am not sure what your custody/visitation situation is with the man. Now I am not 100% sure but with the way he has neglected his responsibility as a parent you have a strong case to obtain full custody of the child and possibly have him relinquish his parental rights. At the fact that he is behind in child support payments he might not even show up for the court date because he could face jail time. it would be useful to talk to a lawyer in your state. their are some lawyers that will discuss your case with you free of charge. They will let you know your options and what avenue you can take. Also look and see if your state has a legal aid program. They help people who don't have a lot of money for a lawyer. You can possibly get a lawyer free of charge depending on your financial status.

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If I get papers and he willingly relinguishes his parental rights, will that just be that?

If you get the proper documents from the courts for him to sign it will be just as good. Just make sure you do it in front of a legal notary.

Have you even shopped for a lawyer? You may find the cost of filing an adoption is not what you may think it is. However, you may NEED to have an atty file the adoption. So start shopping around.