Legal Question in Family Law in California

Legal adoption of a non-biological child

I have a 3 year old son who's

biological father has not been present

in his life since he found out I was

pregnant. He showed up once when

my son was about 15 months old

and quickly reverted back to ''How do

I even know he's mine?'' while

refusing to take a paternity test. He

wouldn't sign away parental rights to

''get off the hook'' but he wouldn't

take the paternity test and be a real

part of my son's life either. My fiance

wants to legally adopt my son. Does

my son's bio dad need to be found

and notified of this, or can we

proceed due to the fact that he's

been completely absent, even going

so far as to change his cell phone

number? How long must he be

absent before my fiance can legally

adopt my son without having to

''have his bio father's consent''?

2 Answers from Attorneys

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