Q: Fiance wants to adopt my daughter once married, what kind can we do?
My daughter's father has been no contact for 2 years and he never established paternal rights in court, but is on birth certificate. When I was going to file officially for custody, 6 different lawyers during consultations informed me that because we were never married and he never established his paternal rights in court, I had automatic sole custody in OH. My fiance and I are getting married next month. My daughter has asked my fiance to adopt her and he wants to. Before we go speaking with lawyers officially, we're wondering if we would have to do the step parent adoption route with requiring biological father's permission even though her father has no established rights and has been no contact?
A: If the biological father has EITHER gone more than one year without de minimus (negligible amount) of contact with the minor child without reasonable cause OR has failed to provide support for the minor child, even without a child support order, then the biological father's consent is not required to proceed with the stepparent adoption.
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