step parent adoption in Ohio

A child of 12 must consent to the adoption unless the court determines the adoption is in the child's best interest to waive that requirement. When Parental Consent is not Needed Citation: Rev. Code 3107.07 Consent to adoption is not required of any of the following: [LIST] A parent who has failed without justifiable cause to communicate or provide support of the minor for a period of at least 1 year[/LIST] The putative father if: [LIST] He has failed to register with the putative father registry within 30 days of the minor's birth.[/LIST] [LIST] The court finds that he is not the father of the minor, has willfully abandoned or failed to care for and support the minor, or has willfully abandoned the mother of the minor during her pregnancy.[/LIST] [LIST] A parent who has entered into a voluntary permanent custody surrender agreement[/LIST] [LIST] A parent whose parental rights have been terminated[/LIST] [LIST] A parent who is married to the petitioner and supports the adoption[/LIST] [LIST] The father of a minor if the minor is conceived as the result of the commission of rape by the father[/LIST] [LIST] A legal guardian or guardian ad litem of an incompetent parent who is found to be withholding consent unreasonably[/LIST] [LIST] Any legal guardian or custodian of the adopted person, other than a parent, who is found to be withholding consent unreasonably[/LIST] [LIST] The spouse of the adopted person, if the failure of the spouse to consent is by reason of prolonged unexplained absence, unavailability, incapacity, or circumstances that make it impossible or unreasonably difficult to obtain the consent or refusal of the spouse [/LIST] [LIST] Any parent, legal guardian, or other custodian in a foreign country, if the adopted person has been released for adoption pursuant to the laws of the country in which the person resides and the release of such person is in a form that satisfies the requirements of the immigration and naturalization service of the U.S. Department of Justice[/LIST] [LIST] A juvenile court, agency, or person given notice of the petition that fails to file an objection to the petition within 14 days [/LIST] [LIST] Any guardian, custodian, or other party who has temporary custody of the child[/LIST] I do think that you would prevail in court. Our BM has only once "contacted" my daughter in going on 6 years. LB was 5 (now 8) and DOT mailed her a letter and a package in Feb of that year and a Valentines card in Mar of that year. She constantly posts about her children on FBook (4 children/4 fathers/she has no custody/contact with any of them) and plans she has with them and various stories of why they aren't living with her. However, the lack of any contact, as long as the custodial parent/legal guardian has not actively prevented contact, is enough according to my attorney. But be careful. There have been cases in Ohio where accidental contact (running into each other by coincidence) and the missing parent speaks to the child and identifies themselves as the other parent and interacts with the child, has been upheld as contact, and the adoption was voided.

Your husband can actually adopt your daughter on one of two grounds: Willful failure -Meaning that the absent parent's consent is not required if that parent has both failed to support, and failed to communicate with, the child for at least a year, provided there is an order or agreement giving the custodial parent custody of the child. The step-parent has the burden of proving that these facts exist but no independent investigation of these facts is required, the testimony of the natural parent and stepparent will suffice. At that point, the burden is on the absent parent to show good reasons for the failure to support and communicate. If he or she does not or cannot provide a persuasive explanation, the requirement of consent will be dispensed with by the court, and the adoption will proceed as in an independent adoption. All this can be accomplished in one legal proceeding, with only one court hearing. Notice must be given to the absent parent.

Or Abandonment- If the facts show that either failure to support or failure to communicate with the child for at least a year, but not both, it is still possible for a court to dispense with the requirement of the absent parents consent to the adoption because of abandonment, but the procedure is a little more complicated. In this instance, the law requires a Probation Department investigation and report concerning the absent parent's neglect of parental responsibilities. The court considers both the testimony of the parties to the adoption, and the findings of the probation investigation, in deciding whether the absent parent has abandoned the child. This procedure requires two separate legal petitions, one to terminate parental rights and a second to adopt the child. Two separate court orders are required. Also, notice of the proposed adoption and termination of rights must be given not only to the absent parent, but to certain other relatives of that parent as well. Once the court decides that the absent parent abandoned the child, the matter proceeds as in an independent adoption. I really like to refer people to stepparent-adoption.org [because it helped me alot. Stepparent Adoption: A Resource Book by Wendelyn D. Osorio is a new and revised book from the previous. It has Step by Step procedures on going about many different Stepparent Adoption procedures to terminate the biological parents rights. This book is a timesaver! And well lifesaver too!