Legal Question in Family Law in Louisiana

How can I keep my daughter away from a man she doesn't know to be her biological

After 3 yrs. my daughter's biological father is in the picture. My husband is the man she has known as Daddy since she was 3 mo. old. She is now 3 yrs. old. The pegnancy was a result of his taking advantage of me one night I had had too much to drink (this is not an ongoing problem). There was never any relationship. I let him know about her when she was 2 mo. old he wanted nothing to do with her. My husband wants to adopt her, so I used the state support office to locate him. Now he's signed child support papers and wants to run our lives.

I don't want support her daddy and I have been supporting her. She even calls herself his last name. How can we go thru with an adoption without the biological father's consent? I don't want her confused. This other man will totally disrupt her life. She has a stable home here.


Asked on 7/23/01, 8:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Nick Pizzolatto, Jr. Pizzolatto Law Office

Re: How can I keep my daughter away from a man she doesn't know to be her biolog

The obvious answer is, you should have started the adoption process a long time ago. I would forget the state and file a Petition for Child Support outside the state support system. They are notoriously slow in getting the father to court, usually get judgments for lower amounts than using a private attorney, and then collect at a snail's pace. If you file for support, you make him go to court with all his financial records, not just with an excuse or a story about why he isn't working or why he has never supported the child. At the same time, you can have the court limit the visitation and basically can make the man "work" for the privilege of seeing his child. Most bums talk a good game, especially if they know they are getting to the mom, but as bums, they tire of the game and fade away. By-the-way, since you were drunk, is there any way he might NOT be the father? Has DNA been considered? Even though you named him and he signed papers, if he may not be the father, it would be worth the try.

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Answered on 7/30/01, 11:49 pm


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