Legal Question in Family Law in Utah
My daughter is 9yrs old and we live in Utah. When she was born her biological father refused to sign a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity. We have not seen or heard from him in 8yrs, and want nothing from him. Now I am married and my husband wants to adopt her. My question is can he go in a fill out a declarartion of paternity as sort of an adoption loophole to become her legal father, since there is no one on her birth certificate and her biological isnt around???
2 Answers from Attorneys
The best course of action would be to file a Step Parent Adoption. Since the biological father never filed anything with the state, then you wouldn't be required to give him notice of the proceedings. However, the court would require that you file a certificate showing that a search was done of the state's records and that the father filed nothing.
I have done many step parent adoptions. Since the birth father is not on the birth certificate your husband can adopt your daughter without notice to birth father.
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