Prairieville, LA asked in Family Law, Adoption and Child Custody for Louisiana

Q: Do you have to contact birth father if they weren't married to the birth mother and didn't go to court for rights?

My daughters birth father and I weren't married and didn't take me to court for rights to our daughter. Now my fiance and I are looking into adoption, the birth father hasn't made contact in over a year and hasn't seen the child in over a year. So I'm just wondering what do we need to do and go about things.

1 Lawyer Answer

A: The birth father may have to be placed on notice of the intent to adopt; however, his consent may not be required if he failed to communicate or attempt to communicate with the child without just cause for over 6 months. Your fiance would likely need to marry you, however, to be considered for an intrafamily adoption.

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