Legal Question in Family Law in California

The adoption by the step father "cut off" or terminated your obligation to pay child support. If a child support order was in place prior to the adoption, you would owe support for the period before the adoption. There is no expiration date on collecting unpaid child support arrears. If there was no court order for child support in place prior to the adoption, then it is too late to put an order in place now.

After the adoption, you would have had no responsibility to support your child. But, any order which was in place prior to the adoption would have remained until your rights were terminated. So, any arrears (non-payments) from the period prior to the marriage, would remain to exist even after the adoption, and even up to this date. Good luck!

Just to clarify, if there was no ordered but unpaid child support owed at the time of the adoption, she cannot come back now and ask for pre-adoption support. Only support that was ordered before the adoption and that remains unpaid could be the subject of any action now. She cannot come now and ask for support for before the adoption that was not ordered before the adoption.