Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

Re: Adopting Step-Daughter

If the biological father is in prison for more than a year, the court can look at the behavior he exhibited for four months before incarceration to determine abandonment, or if before incarcertion he failed to visit for four consective months or failed to pay child support for a year you can file a motion to terminate his parental rights or you can do an agreed motion to terminate his rights and then do a stepparent adoption. Mother has to agree to you adopting as well.