Legal Question in Family Law in Louisiana

Custody, Adoption, & Revoking a Parents Rights

Under Louisiana Law, what consitutes abandonment? I'm going through custody battle right now with my ex who has not seen our 8 month old since December and other than a one-time of $400 in October and maintaining health insurance he does nothing for our child (also, ...he was compelled to take a hair folical and fingernail drug test and failed from using methanphetamines and the number was so high the drug tester said it was because he was a constant user)...and if all that is not enough he also has 2 DWIs on his record (arrested 3 times for DWI) and to my knowledge does not possess a drivers license to this day...I'm pretty certain that I'll be granted full custody, but regardless, if a certain amount of time has gone by and he still hasnt see the child, when is it considered abondonment and what can I do about seeing that his rights are revoked? ...and if a child gets adopted in the State of Louisiana, is there anything the bio-dad can do later on to regain his rights or disrupt the ''new dads'' rights in any way?


Asked on 5/29/09, 7:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Nick Pizzolatto, Jr. Pizzolatto Law Office

Re: Custody, Adoption, & Revoking a Parents Rights

I am not sure why you are asking about abandonment since that is not a choice when filing for divorce. For adoption purposes, there are certain persons whose permission is required and that can be found under Children's Code Article 1193. For adoptions intrafamily, like a new husband, then Children's Code Article 1245 would allow the adoption without the dad's permission under certain circumstances. Those articles can be read online. It seems that that is what you have in mind. If an adoption is legal then the dad cannot come back and have it reversed. You also seem to want to know if you can terminate the dad's parental rights without there being another man who will adopt. If that is one of your questions, the courts do not like to bastardize a child unless there is another man who wishes to adopt.

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Answered on 5/30/09, 2:33 pm


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