Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights/ Step-Parent Adoption
My boyfriend has no contact with his wife for 10 yrs. a few months ago she pops up saying she had a P.I. find him. She wants a divorce and supossedly they have a child together( he does not believe the child is his). She says that because she couldn't find him she had his parental rights involintarily terminated, and her current husband has adopted the child. If this is true and the child is legally adopted does my boyfriend have any leagl rights or obligations to this child? Since they are still legally married can he sue her for bigamy and what is the punishment for bigamy?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights/ Step-Parent Adoption
If this case was in Harris County, the facts you state do not make any sense.
You need an attorney to sort all of this out.
One place to start is for you to go to the Harris County District Clerk's office in the civil court's building on the first floor (at the corner of San Jacinto and Congress - the really old looking, domed building) and order a certified copy of all final pleadings in any case. (The adoption file will be a closed file and you cannot access this file without a judge's signature.) Bring a credit card or cash since they won't take your personal check.
It costs $1 a page so order certified copies of everything.
If he wants to give me a call, I will offer him a free phone consultation. My cell phone is 713-805=9591.
Good luck!
Fran Brochstein
www.familylaw4u.com