Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Volountary termination of parental rights.

Until the adoption goes through, the termination of your parental rights is not yet final, meaning, your rights are not yet terminated, even if you agreed to this in 2003. Therefore, you are still liable for the child support until mom and step-dad go ahead with the adoption.

The best thing that you can probably do to remind mom and step-dad that they need to follow through- beyond just asking them to finish it up- is to request visitation with your child. I doubt they want that, so that will probably spur them to finish things up.

As you probably realize, mom and step-dad have no financial motive to finish up, given that you provide a monthly supplement to their income for purposes of taking care of your child.

To conclude, when a judge signs the decree of adoption, that is also when the judge will sign the termination of parental rights, ending your support obligation. So, until the adoption is finalized, you remain the father of the child, obligated to pay support, and with the right to ask for visitation.

Good luck!