I'm a single mom of two, getting divorced, but we've procrastinated for 5 years. My 13 year old is from a previous relationship, but her bio-dad is not in touch and hasn't been since she was about 6 years old. My soon-to-be-ex husband has been her dad since she was 3.
We are divorcing ASAP, and have lived apart for five years. My daughter wants my ex-husband to adopt her and he has said he wants to. We had spoken about doing this after our divorce is final. He fears that child support will be far too expensive, so we decided to do it this way.
My daughter's bio-dad may not give up parental rights. If he isn't a part of her life, can he do that? Is there a way to make him relinquish rights? Is a step-parent adoption by someone I wont be married to going to be allowable? Also, her bio-dad owes me about 22k in back child support. Am I correct in assuming that if he relinquishes rights, he wont have to continue to pay, but he will still have to pay all this back child support?
Parental Right / Adoption
When you adopt a child you are terminating the parental rights of the other parent(s). A guardianship may serve your purpose and does not require terminating parental rights. You have a lot of questions that require additional information about your specific situation. You should contact an attorney for a consultation.
Attorney Wyckoff Nissenbaum
www.SomervilleLawOffice.com