My husband is trying to adopt my daughter and her biological dad hasn't been in the picture for all her life. He has been in and out of jail ever since I met him. I never met his family or knew where he lived. My husband and I are wondering if he will be able to keep his rights as a father since he was found by our lawyer in jail. Would the judge allow him to keep his rights? We moved when she was two and since I never knew where he lived, would that favor us in this case?

If you weren't going for step parent adoption you would not get his rights terminated. But as long as it is part of the adoption process, it should be granted.

So you moved without notifing the father where the child was and this entire time the father had no idea where his child is. ( just saying it a different way)

But it will depend on the rules or laws of the state. Some states will allow rights to be taken away for long term jail (prison) sentence. It is not automatically, in the adoption if he will not sign it over, you will have to take those rights away and it is just up to judge

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Originally Posted by yfgarcia6

My husband is trying to adopt my daughter and her biological dad hasnt been in the picture for all her life. He has been in and out of jail ever since I met him. I never met his family or knew where he lived. My husband and I are wondering if he will be able to keep his rights as a father since he was found by our lawyer in jail. Would the judge allow him to keep his rights? We moved when she was two and since I never knew where he lived, would that favor us in this case?

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Why don't you ask your lawyer. The law in your state regarding when the father's consent isn't required is the first and main thing he or she should have determined when adoption proceedings were begun.

Apparently this guy has continued to be in and out of jail ever since she was born. I never had a contact number or address for him then, now I know he is in jail again and will be out in a week or two. Will it be considered my fault I didn't try to have contact with him even though I had no clue where he was at?

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

If you weren't going for step parent adoption you would not get his rights terminated. But as long as it is part of the adoption process, it should be granted.

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Your answer gave me some relief but I still have my doubts. I don't know what this guy will try to do or if he even remembers me, its been so long. I don't even remember his face.

If you know he is in jail, then you know where he is. But as part of the adoption process he will have to be notified. He will have the right to defend keeping is rights if he wishes

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

If you know he is in jail, then you know where he is. But as part of the adoption process he will have to be notified. he will have the right to defend keeping is rights if he wishes

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I absolutely agree that he should know. I only found out he was in jail because our lawyer found out otherwise I would have no clue. Never met any family or friends. We are hoping that this process doesn't take to long but we don't know anything about him or what his life has been through these 12 years. I definitely appreciate your answers.

Here's the problem, if you moved and did not try to let him know where you moved, this could be a problem for the court.

On the other hand, if he can't prove he ever tried to contact you, that won't look well for the court. The court is charged with considering the best interests of the child. And I can't see them giving a career criminal custody over a step father who wants to adopt.