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KaraOwens · Mar 28, 2008, 02:03 PM

My four year old's biological father has not seen him or talked to him since he was 9 months old and has never paid child support. Is there some kind of abandonment law or something so that he can't just decide to pop in and out now that my son is older? Has it been long enough to start adoption without consent or anything like that?

darhe3425 · Mar 28, 2008, 04:30 PM

Is there some reason you have not pursued child support?

KaraOwens · Mar 29, 2008, 10:25 AM

I don't want him to use that to try to pursue visitation. He was very abusive and went to prison 3 times, twice for violating an OP I had against him. Now they won't renew the op, and my son does not know this man. My husband is his daddy. His biological father doesn't like that fact and now he wants to see him, but has no visitation rights because he injured my son and Dcfs took them away three years ago. I am just trying to figure out if it is abandonment so that my husband can adopt him without bio's consent.

Username Here · Mar 29, 2008, 10:50 AM

Because he's never shown an interest in the child and you have genuine fear of safety for your child, the best he'll be able to get would be supervised visitation.

But, he owes you a significant amount of back-pay. It may be worth pursuing child support.

If you get harassed by him, file for a trespass order. He only needs to come onto your property once for you to file for this. Trespass stands for 2 years. If he enters the property, the police take your signed afa David and he'll get arrested and charged.

If it gets bad, a restraining order can be filed though a lawyer.

Hope this helps,
Louis.

darhe3425 · Mar 30, 2008, 04:51 PM

I would assess my situation, if there is significant doubt in his ability to "father" this child baded on your reasons, and there is no indication of MAJOR CHANGE, then I would pursue termination of rights. If this guy is on path to some significant change as result of social agency interventions, i.e. parenting classes, employment, stable home, and counseling then go with DH visitation, if not boot him for good, cause it will better for you child, certainly. Personally, I would only pursue child support from this guy if I really needed it, and only with understanding the visits are supervised for an extended period, after conditions met. Don't put $$ over child safety, in other words, and I'm sure you wouldn't do this anyway. The difficult part will be if you decide he is unfit, you will have to prove it, in order to terminate his parental rights, absent as he is.

ScottGem · Mar 30, 2008, 05:29 PM

What you want is to terminate his parental rights. Abandonment can be used as a grounds for that, but I think you would be better off pursuing the claim that he is a danger to the child. Plus the fact that your husband wants to adopt. I would consult with an attorney to prepare an adoption petition. The attorney can tell you how to terminate his rights even if the bio father objects.