Legal Question in Family Law in New York

incarcerated biological father's rights

My four year old son has never met his biological father. I have been married for 3 1/2 years to another man who I have a 2 1/2 year old son with. My husband supports and financially provides for all of us (and acknowledges both of these children as his). My 4 year old has my maiden name on the birth certificate and their is not a father acknowledged on there. Although the biological father suspects that the child is his I have always denied it because he is a drug user and has spent most of the past 6 years incarcerated off and on. I don't want this man in our son's life when there is a wonderful man here who loves him. I wonder though if he has any legal rights to visitation and such under the circumstances or if any one else in his family may have so? And.. can I get my son's name changed legally to my husband's last name without the biological fathera's consent?


Asked on 1/28/02, 12:56 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Hayes The Law Office of John M. Hayes

Re: incarcerated biological father's rights

You ask 2 questions. The simplest answers to them, in order, are:

maybe yes; probably not.

This is "touchy" & complex stuff and _not_ something you ought to set out to do on your own.

If you feel you cannot afford to hire an attorney, you should at least contact the local bar association in the county where you live and ask if they have a Referral Program. Thru such a program, you should be able to arrange (at minimum cost & without obligation) at least an "initial consultation" with an attorney experienced in parental rights issues. You need to be able to sit down with someone to whom you can pose your questions and from whom you can get a "considered" perspective on these complicated issues.

If you think that release from jail or effort to contact are likely to happen "sooner, rather than later", you should try to get the benefit of such a consultation as soon as possible.

Good luck.

Regards, etc.,

J. M. Hayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<

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Answered on 1/28/02, 1:55 am


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