Q: How do i get biological fathers rights taken when he has had not contact in over a year
My daughters and sons bio father has supervised visits only and has had not contact in over a year how do i get his rights taken so that my husband can adopt her? He is listed as father on my daughters birth certificate but not on my sons.
A: You file a petition to have the court terminate them. That petition would be filed in conjunction with a petition seeking adoption by your husband. Many counties expect that you have an attorney represent you during these proceedings so it's my recommendation that, before you do anything including saying anything to the bio dad, you meet with a local attorney experienced in adoptions to learn about the entire process. By all means do not mention to him or anyone else that you're thinking of doing this because one of the criteria for termination is a failure to perform parental duties for a period of six months or more up to the point of filing. It's happened that a court decides that one telephone contact within that six month period is sufficient to deny the termination.
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