Legal Question in Family Law in California
My wife and I filed to declare my step daughter free of custody and control of her biological father after over a year without physical contact, and only 1 meaningless attempt at a phone conversation. We have an adoption pending the same day as the termination of parental rights hearing (that was the judge's decision to put it all on the same day). Since we've filed, the biological father has expressed an interest in seeing my step daughter. We all know that this is an in vain attempt to reset the clock and try to convince the judge that even though he had a greater than 52 week absence, that he came now and the year long wait must start over. Our question, do we have to stick to the visitation agreement if he requests a visit pending the adoption? If we do, does that truely reset the clock so to speak? And finally, is there really a chance that a judge in California will deny the termination of parental rights because daddy showed only because he was facing legal matters? I would ask the legal aid lady, but she's out of town for the rest of the week. Oi Vei.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Well, first off, the "legal aid lady" should not be answering such a question unless she is an attorney since she would be illegally practicing law without a license.
And no, in many of my adoption cases, the court has said that the pending adoption, stays, or rather, puts the brakes on the family law matter. I would advise against a visit now, as it would only serve to confuse the child most likely.
The "abandonment" for the purposes of the adoption, only speaks to the abandonment up to the time of your filing. So, the legal question should be whether or not the bio-father has seen or paid support for the child as of the date of your filing. Also, the law states that if a person only has "token" contact, that it is insufficient to get beyond the abandonment.
I would highly suggest you seek out and retain competent legal counsel who regularly handles adoption matters to help you to finish your step parent adoption. Good luck!
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