Ask Me Help Desk - Laws on child abandonment?

I have a three almost four year old daughter, her father has not paid one dollar to child support, it is not court ordered and we have not done a dna test. He is not on the birth certificate, yet I was told that I can not have her adopted with out the biological fathers signature. I was wondering how long do I have to wait to file child abandonment and how do I do that?

Child abandonment is not the issue. Child abandonment occurs where a child is left all alone. This appears to be a common misconception.

The issue here is parental rights. The biological father has parental rights until and unless they are terminated. The reason you are being told that she cannot be adopted without the bio father's signature is because the father has to agree with it, otherwise he can later void the adoption.

So you have to make a good faith effort to get the bio father's signature. If you can't find him, there are things you can do. If he refuses to sign, then you can try to inspire him to sign by suing him for child support. Or you can sue for termination of rights on the grounds that he has not exercised his rights.

I am a 55 year old grandmother who has been rasing two of her grandsons since June of last year.I have already been to child support court once but the mother had not been served.My so the father of the two boys is in prison.I have a notorized piece of paper giving me temporary custody until further notice.Ever since she dropped the boys off to me she has not been back and she has seen no money for support.I receive ssi and I get tanf a month.She has called about 6 times since she has been in Arkansas.Is there anyway possible that I can file aBANDONMENT CHARGES ON HER?

Quote:

Originally Posted by phyl5486

I am a 55 year old grandmother who has been rasing two of her grandsons since june of last year.I have already been to child support court once but the mother had not been served.My so the father of the two boys is in prison.I have a notorized peice of paper giving me temporary custody until futher notice.Ever since she dropped the boys off to me she has not been back and she has seen no money for support.I recieve ssi and I get tanf a month.She has called about 6 times since she has been in Arkansas.Is there anyway possible that I can file aBANDONMENT CHARGES ON HER?

Your answer is no. She didn't leave them in the street. She left them with you. Also you can't do anything until your legal and at this point your not even the legal guardian of those children. They could be taken away from you at any time. You need to talk to a lawyer and get into court pronto. You need to seek custody then you can ask for relief through child support. Having a piece of paper noterized doeant mean much. It just means that the signature is authentic to state standards.. it says nothing about the document being signed.