Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

have a 7 year old daughter with a man that in my opinion has abandoned her.. my daughteher was born in 2004 in ga.. her bio father never saw her till after she was a year old.. we went to court a dna verified he was the father he was granted visitation and did good for a few years then it was like he fell of the face of the earth.. he moved to texas in 2007 and has not seen her since he pays child support only because it is court ordered..he has not made any attempts to see he and the last phone call to her was over a yr ago no letters no birthday cards nothing... i have no address for him or phone number to contact him in the event that something should happen to her its like he has vanished.. my question is can i have his rights involuntary terminated.. i want to know in the event something should happen to me that my child is not shipped to live with someone that is a complete stranger to her and she doesnt even remember..she was 3 then she left and will be turning 8 next april.. i am also engaged to be married and my soon to be husband has been the dad in her life since she was 2 and wants nothing more that to adopt her .. i really need some advise please help


Asked on 11/17/11, 2:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

Since he is regularly paying support he has not legally abandoned the child.

There is no such thi9ng as terminating his rights. The right you seek to terminate belongs to the child (the right to be supported) and neither you nor he can terminate that.

Your spouse to be unfortunately will not be able to adopt unless (1) you find bio-dad and he consents, or (2) he stops paying support (in which case grounds may then exist to terminate his rights inside an adoption case).

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Answered on 11/17/11, 4:21 pm


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