Legal Question in Family Law in Iowa

I take it the biological father of the two kids is not in the picture. We'll call him Dad 1. Nonetheless he has parental rights that you will have to have terminated.

Next there is the issue of equitable paternity and/or equitable estoppel-and this is where the children seem to fall in the case of Dad 2. See, for example, In re Marriage of Gallagher, 539 N.W.2d 479 (Iowa 1995).

Your future husband (Dad 3) would have to legally adopt the children and before that, you would have to terminate Dad 1s parental rights under section 600 of the code as well as Dad 2s.

Dad 2 may not like the idea or you, and you can't expect him to give up whatever leverage he may have here, or the affection of the children who've known him as their father.

There is no other legal way to ensure that Dad 3 has parental rights. You cannot short circuit the procedure because as you have said Dad 1 is their biological father and Dad 2 is their equitable father.

Parental rights are significant when it comes to taxes and claiming dependents, and inheritance in the unlikely event that the custodian not recognized as a legal parent dies suddenly, or has other children from a previous relationship.

You have not explained how you propose to do any this by a simple signature on a slip of paper.