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Hello all,
We have been a happy and contented family for about 8 years. I'm currently undergoing the step-parent adoption process for my step-daughter. We've ran into a glitch- natural father will not consent to the adoption. They were never married, and he was not recognized on the birth certificate as the father. My wife has never filed for child support. He has not been part of my step-daughter's life for several years. As far as we know, he is married and has 2 children. Soon, we will meet and be interviewed by the probation officer in our home.
What are our options?
Must he sign the consent form?
A friend suggested filing for "back child support" to persuade him not to contest further proceedings. Is that possible, since my wife never filed for child support?
Thank you.
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I would really recomend buying "How to Adopt Your Step Child in California". You can buy it at [url]www.nolopress.com[/url] or you can probably check it out from your local library. Also, your county should have a Social Worker in charge of interviewing families for step parent adoptions. You should be able to find this persons number through the adoptions listing in you phone book in the gov. pages. And this person can help you with how your county likes to do things. In San Bernardino if the absentee parent is not on the birth cirtificate, and has not had legal paternity established even if they have taken partial responsibility they are considered the alleged father. And they do not have the sames rights as a bio parent unless they want to establish paternity themselves. Also if they have not contacted OR paid child support in 1 year, then you can file for abandonment. Again you should be able to get help with that from your Social Worker. There is also a different way to go about things if the absentee parent has given you permission to be a legal gardian and not a step parent. You can e-mail me if you have any more questions. Please let us know what happens.
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Just read the part on child support. I know things are done by county so this info may not be right if you are not in San Bernardino. If she has never filed for child support they will not give it to you. Back child support is only given after your court dates. Also if the absentee parent has no record of working for the period of time in question then they are not held accountable for that time. The laws have not always been this way. But they changed this year. And if you do have an order they can only be held accountable for two years prior to your filing for back chilk support. Again I would go for abandonment. Also I believe you have to have been legally married for two years before they will grant the adoption. In most cases. Good Luck. We are about to enter into this process ourselves.