Legal Question in Family Law in South Carolina
Adopting a fatherless child
I am getting married in November, and I would like to be my fiancee's daughter's legal father. The man we think is the biological father is not a US citizen (he's British), has never seen or contacted the child, has not contacted my fiancee in almost exactly a year, and prior to that was entirely uncooperative and hostile. We tried a couple of months ago to locate him and were unsuccessful.
His name has never appeared on any legal document in relation to his presumptive daughter.
My question is: Do we even need to bother to contact him? Does he have any rights at all since he has never claimed to or wanted to be the father and in fact left the country when he heard my fiancee was pregnant? What will I need to go through to become her legal father?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Adopting a fatherless child
The "safest" practice is to terminate his rights and then have you adopt the child. Doing so will prevent the headaches that could ensue if the biological father popped up at some point in the future and sought to assert some rights.
These are complex issues, and it is important that they be handled correctly. Therefore, it is important that you consult an experienced family law attorney to find out what options are available to you based on the facts of your particular case.
If you need more information, you can visit my family law blog (www.SCFamilyLaw.com) or our website (www.StevensFirm.com). I wish you the best of luck.
Ben Stevens
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