Q: I have a two year old and my husband wants to adopt him, but I have no way of locating his biological father.
How do I get things going so that my husband can adopt my son without his biological father's consent since I cannot locate him. He hasn't ever paid child support and he's had no contact with my child in two years but he is on the birth certificate.
A: A basic premise of our system is that a person in entitled to know that a lawsuit has been filed against them, so the court rules require a copy of the suit to be "served" ( delivered ) to them. When a person avoids service or can't be found, the ;aw allows "substituted service" by published an ad/notice in the newspaper- the ad is an attempt to let the other person know a case has been filed. This is only allowed when the Judge is satisfied that a "diligent search and inquiry" has been made to locate that person. The internet is a powerful information source, and if a person looks hard, almost anyone can be located. You should try old friends or mutual acquaintances, extended family members, co-workers- surely there is someone out there who will sympathize with your situation and would share some info. keep a record of all your efforts- if you don't locate, remember you will, at some point, have to convince the Judge that you tried very hard to find him and you will have to explain and detail all the efforts you made to find him. Good luck.
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