My husband fought for custody of his two boys here in Arkansas lost. His ex then moved away with the boys to Boston and got into trouble there and had them taken from her. She signed papers giving them up for adoption. My husband had no say in it, he never signed papers. Is there any chance we can get them back?

Massachusetts does NOT allow adoption without the consent of both parents. Of course, if your husband (for whatever reason) didn't just lose custody, also lost all parental rights, he did not need to consent.

You need to consult with an Attorney. How long ago did the adoption take place?

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Originally Posted by lvandy

My husband fought for custody of his two boys here in Arkansas lost. His ex then moved away with the boys to Boston and got into trouble there and had them taken from her. She signed papers giving them up for adoption. My husband had no say in it, he never signed papers. Is there any chance we can get them back?

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Agree with Judy. The boys could not have been adopted unless your husband had absolutely no rights whatsoever.

This is one that your going to need to know the whole story on. There are too many things that "could be" and we just don't know. What your going to need to do is get all the paperwork and filings made surrounding custody hearings and the ones around the adoption. Once you have those then you may or may not be able to fight it depending on what they say.

Stupid question here, please don't kick me legal eagles.

What if the husband was never named as the birth father? If the bio mom didn't put him on the birth certificate then would she still need his consent to give the kids up for adoption?

Don't throw things! Please!

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Stupid question here, please don't kick me legal eagles.

What if the husband was never named as the birth father? If the bio mom didn't put him on the birth certificate then would she still need his consent to give the kids up for adoption?

Don't throw things! Please!

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Not a stupid question at all. In fact, I've seen it happen.

I guess since the OP stated that he fought for custody and lost, the courts knew he was the biological father but saw him as unfit, which is what led to the adoption "without his consent."

But as califdad said, this is all speculation until we get more info.

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

Stupid question here, please don't kick me legal eagles.

What if the husband was never named as the birth father? If the bio mom didn't put him on the birth certificate then would she still need his consent to give the kids up for adoption?

Don't throw things! Please!

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Yes. The reason being is that both parents would need to consent. And since the "father" isn't listed a diligent search would have to be made so that his rights can be signed away. The only work around to this is the new drop off laws they have on the books that state either parent may drop off the child and the child enters the system from that point forward. In some states it even has applied to older children.
And no bonking on alty's head... Its christmas time!!

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

Yes. The reason being is that both parents would need to consent. And since the "father" isnt listed a diligent search would have to be made so that his rights can be signed away. The only work around to this is the new drop off laws they have on the books that state either parent may drop off the child and the child enters the system from that point forward. In some states it even has applied to older children.
And no bonking on alty's head ... Its christmas time !!!!

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That's exactly what happened to someone I know. A woman he was seeing got pregnant, never told him, decided she didn't want the baby and gave it to the state. He had to actually fight the state to get his own biological child back when he never gave him up in the first place... can you imagine?

There are many states that are doing this now and the parent of the child doesn't even have to identify who they are. Its just amazing and it strips ( usually the fathers ) of some basic rights.

Here is a link for it.

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwi.../safehaven.cfm

OP said he "fought for custody" and lost - I assumed (and we all know what that makes me) that he, therefore, WAS the father. In NY you cannot fight for custody unless/until you are the acknowledged father.

Still think we have a small percentage of the story.