Legal Question in Family Law in Louisiana

If he has not attempted to contact his son for 6 months, you can ask the court to terminate his parental rights and let your husband adopt. You do not need his consent.

I agree with Mr. Louque, except you need to wait until you marry your fiance' and then file a Petition for Intrafamily Adoption. In that Petition you name the alleged father as the "alleged father" and state his consent is not necessary because he has not contacted and/or not supported your son for a period in excess of 6 consecutive months. He will have to be served with the Petition, or if his whereabouts are "truly" not known, then an Attorney can be appointed to represent him and attempt to find him. I have been doing adoptions for over 30 years and terminating parental rights for the last 6, and this is the best, safest way to do it so that he cannot ever come back and attempt to exercise his parental rights. He could object, but would first have to prove his paternity, then prove he was always ready, willing and able to care for his son but was prevented from doing so by something beyond his control. By-the-way, some might say you should terminate his rights before you get married, but I have never heard of a Judge who will do that outside an Adoption proceedings unless it is in a State proceedings. The reason is even if you tell the court there is another man who wants to be dad and accept those responsibilities, that could even fall through. So, get married and file for adoption. Mr. Louque is close to Houma, so it seems he could help you accomplish that. Good luck.