Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Process of relinquishing parental rights of 5 year old child

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage.

May I recommend that you consolidate your legal bills by waiting to adopt until after the marriage and everyone is living in the same state?

Regarding the father's interest, he can voluntarily give up his paternal rights and it can also be done involuntarily. Clearly, you already have a lawyer and he/she has explained the basic issues to you.

I just wanted to give my advice on how to limit your costs.

Re: Process of relinquishing parental rights of 5 year old child

Generally, Court adoption proceedings must be iniatiated in the state of the child's legal residence. The natural parent MUST receive Notice; and Must either join, consent or NOT object to the adoption proceeding, that concludes with an Order or Judgment of the Court, that the "parent" henceforth, is or shall be known as ...

Good luck,

Phroska L. McAlister,ESQ

Re: Process of relinquishing parental rights of 5 year old child

You are correct jurisdiction is likely in Colorado. If the father has had contact with the child or paid child support within the last year, it is likely his relinquishment will be necessary for the adoption. To rule a child abandoned, some judges require a lack of both contact and support for a year. Many judges also require a couple be married a year before even a consensual adoption is granted, even though that is not required in the law. They apparently want to have the abandonment argument in their back pockets should the biological father change his mind.

The documentation for an adoption is quite extensive and is available at http://www.courts.state.co.us/.

Our eight-attorney law firm specializes in family matters and has handled dozens of cases such as yours. We offer a 45-minute consultation for $150, during which we can examine your case in more detail. This can be done by telephone. If this would be useful to you, please contact Katie at (303) 299-9484, or at [email protected]. I hope we can be of service to you.