Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

My boyfriend has a daughter who lives in Mass. He lives in Michigan. He has been paying for child support as well as back child support for the past few years. They went to court to file the original child support claim. He has been paying a substantial amount to her which has been negatively affecting his living situation since then. The child's mother has recently gotten married and had a child with this new husband. They are now asking for an adoption of my boyfriends daughter. They have stated thru emails that this is what both the daughter and the new husband would like to happen. He feels like this is not the way to go because this is still his daughter and he still has a blood relationship with her. They have not stated custodial rights.

My questions are:

What does this mean if my boyfriend grants then adoption of his daughter? Does his child support go down or does it stop? Will he still owe the back child support as well? We live in Michigan, will he have to appear in court? If he does grant the adoption, will he have any obligation


Asked on 8/10/09, 12:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alan Pransky Law Office of Alan J. Pransky

Adoption will terminate the parental rights of the natural father and substitute the parental rights of the adoptive father. The obligation to support is also changed from the natural parent to the adoptive. It is possible that he can execute all documents in Michigan and not have to appear in person in Massachusetts.

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Answered on 8/16/09, 5:23 pm


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