Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota
involuntary abandonment
I left my abusive husband 5 yrs ago. He has chosen not to see our 4 children (3 biological/1 adopted)for the past 3 yrs. He has paid no child support voluntarily-couple times they found him, garnished his wages for a couple months, then he quit that job and went back to working for cash. He owes somewhere in the range of $60,000 in back support. 2 yrs ago I married a wonderful, kind man- good job, home, involved father who has since raised my children as his own. It is my guess that if I asked my ex to give up parental rights, he wouldn't-just to spite me. I'm afraid to ask him because it might cause him to come around, and the kids are finally healing from his abuse and neglect. Do I have a case to force him to give up rights, so that I don't have to worry that he will pop into the kids lives again, destroy any healing that has taken place, just to vanish again? I would gladly give up any support owing if I could be guaranteed that he would stay away and let them have a normal life with the person they now choose to call ''dad.'' If I don't have a good chance, I would rather not ''poke the bear'' as he is currently leaving us alone.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: involuntary abandonment
Thank you for your very difficult question about an absent parent.
I am frequently asked this question. The answer is that it is possible to terminate your exhusband's parental rights, even without his consent, due to neglect and non-support. It is not easy, however, and if he decides to contest the adoption and refuses to relinquish his parental rights, you could find youself in a very difficult contested juvenile court proceeding.
Whether to pursue this depends on a variety of factors that you should discuss with an attorney -- such as the age of the children, the nature of their relationship with their biological father and step father, whether the biological father has a criminal history and of what kind, why support was not paid, whether he has always knows your whereabouts (which he may deny, of course), among other things.
I would be glad to discuss the matter with you if you have further questions or need assistance. My contact information is below.
Good luck.
Re: involuntary abandonment
Abandonment is a basis to file an action to terminate parental rights. Moreover, you could use contempt as a tool to seek an agreement from your ex. he could be jailed for his non-payment of support and if he wished to crawl out from under that debt, you could negotiate a reduction of the arrears and a termination of support if he agree to terminate his rights.
From there, you could proceed with a Step Parent adoption which is, after the termination of rights, a relatively simple process.
For a consultation call 952.746.2153
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
