Legal Question in Family Law in Iowa

''Parental rights/termination''

Are there any abandonment laws in Ia? If a father has no contact with his child for a specific amount of time, is there an automatic termination of rights? If a child has a step father that wants to adopt him, are there laws reguarding that child's biological father? If there is no way to find a biological father, can you terminate his rights, in order to gain full custody, and allow adoption of that child to the step parent?

Thank-You for your time. I really need some answers.

I appreciate it,

--name removed---name removed--

(Please e-mail me with some help, if you can.)


Asked on 10/20/04, 4:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

Re: ''Parental rights/termination''

There is no such thing as an automatic termination of parental rights. One has to take affirmative steps to locate the person and serve them notice of any action. The procedure is exclusively under Iowa Code Ch. 600A and the chapter sets out what steps must be taken and under what circumstances a petition to terminate may be granted.

If you type Iowa Code in your search window and browse the code you can read ch . 600A

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Answered on 10/20/04, 7:26 pm


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