Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina
No biological father proven- can stepfather adopt?
When I became pregnant in 1989, the father of my child said he did not want to be part of any child's life. We went separate ways. Now the child is nine, and my husband of five years wants to adopt him legally. The paternity has never been established. Do we have to contact the birth father in an adoption case? What are his rights? Hasn't he legally abandoned his son after so many years? We live in a close knit community where the birth father is someone we frequently see, yet he's never approached me about visiting his son.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: No biological father proven- can stepfather adopt?
Many questions here. Does the birth father have rights? Yes.
Did he "legally abandon" you? Maybe if he was married
to you and walked out and has not
paid any child support or significantly contributed
to needs of the juvenile. Reareading your post
I think maybe no marriage with putative father?
His rights are not established at this point and
neither are his responsibilities. Maybe you never
requested child support? If you
were married at the time you conceived even by another man
the married man/spouse is the "legal father" even
if not the biological father and can be the presumptive father.
Even if you harbored doubts in your heart of hearts you
and he could do an affirmation and acknowledgement of
paternity to establish him as the father.
If the other guy knows he is the father you probably
need to contact him and see if he will waive his
parental rights or you face having to go through a TPR
(Termination of Parental Rights) action in district court.
One tip is to bargain with him. If he terminates you don't press for child support.
Remind him if he is the putative father county child support enforcement can
order DNA test; he could be on the hook until child hits 18 or graduates
from High School whichever comes later. Good luck to you.