Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky
forced adoption
My husband and I have been married for about 4 years now and he wants to adopt my son. My ex-husband, the father, has not had any contact with my son for close to 7 yrs. He has been in and out of prison and was labeled a threat to society by the last judge he went before. Is there anyway that my husband can adopt him without my ex-husbands consent. I have no way to reach him or his family. He doesn't pay child support. For him to sign our divorce papers I had to put that in there and deny child support from him. I do have full custody though. Also would I have to file for this in the county we divorced in, in Ky? I live in a different state now.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: forced adoption
If you have lived in Tennessee 6 months (or the residence requirment under Tennessee law for jurisdiction to arise), then you should look at Tennessee law for the ground of an involuntary termination of parental rights. You would have to do all that Tennessee law requires to give nottice of any such action to your ex-husband.
Re: forced adoption
The state in which the child and the adoptive parent resides would have jurisdiction over the adoption, not the place where you were divorced. A non-consentual adoption would require the legal termination of the father's parental rights. This would require personal jurisdiction over him; meaning he would have to be located.
Certainly, his abandonment of his son would render the father a likely candidate for termination, but he would have to receive actual notice of the proceedings.
You would be well advised to contact the bar association in your state of residence for a referral to an attorney with expertise in adoption law.
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