Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee
Contected stepchild adoption: I have sole custody of my 16 year old daughter and my current husband wants to adopt her. Her biological father has not seen her in over 13 years and owes over $30,000.00 in support for her and her brother who is not 19. The biological father wants to make a deal to not contest the adoption in exchange for my writing off the arrearge he owes. Can we not still petition and be granted a stepchild adoption and leve the money on the books for him to pay. I thought the adoption and the child support arreage were two different things.
1 Answer from Attorneys
They are two different things. What he is suggesting is illegal and cannot be ordered by the court or enforced. If the adoption goes forward, current support will no longer be owed but arrears will continue until he pays them.