Legally Married But Signed Acknowledgement of Pater Paternity?

Hello everyone, really needing some help with this. My daughter was born when I was legally still married/separated. My husband and I have since then reunited and her father is not willing to truly step up to support her and keep threatening me every time I mention to him that we are looking into my husband adopting her as his own. They have a beautiful relationship. When she was born, we signed and Acknowledgment of Paternity. The lady said that he (her biological father) has to go get it filed at the records office and also that my husband has to sign off on being her father since he legally was at that point. Neither of those were done. Her biological father never setup paternity beside signing the acknowledgement of paternity and my husband never signed off on being her father. Does her biological father have any rights since technically he is not on her birth certificate and we never took it any further besides signing the Acknowledgement of Paternity without filing it with the courts or records. She was born in Texas and is also almost a 1&1/2 years old. My husband real wants to adopt her and we both truly think it is what's best for her. We want to make sure we do things legally though. I cannot wait til the day that my baby girl can share the same last name as me, her sister, and her daddy. Please say a prayer for us that her adoption goes through and that the judge will be able to see the situation. Thank you all so much in advance!

I'm not an expert on the laws in your state, but from the information you're presenting, he probably won't have rights. If he isn't consistently in her life and isn't technically the legal father, you should be okay. Keep us posted on what happens!

I am SHOCKED they didn't demand that your husband be put on the BC, since that is, after all, the law in Texas.If you are married and you give birth, the spouse is the "assumed father" and will be on the birth certificate. Since you say he is not, then technically, all he would have to do is sign the Acknowledgement of Paternity, mail them $25 and wait for the certificate. The burden to prove paternity will fall on the biological father, if contested. Now, the ethical way to go about it would be to contact him, demand he sign the paper to acknowledge paternity and send it in (preferably through an attorney) -- then if/when he doesn't, go through the process of terminating his rights for cause (non-support, abandonment, etc) and.You really need an attorney to tell you the correct way to go about it -- but, like I said, if one wanted, it could be as easy as just filling out paperwork and sending it in with $25.Be aware -- if you were on any sort of State Aide (Medicaid/TANF) the father (who ever gets on the certificate) will be responsible for repayment of his portion and the state WILL go after him. Also, if by chance, biological dad ends up on the certificate and Child Support is ordered, do NOT expect the state to go after him with the same kind of enthusiasm. My son's biological father owes me $103,994 in back support and interest. My son is 23. His biological father has made 1 payment in the 276 months he's been alive and the state has done nothing more than send me his Tax Refund this year -- they've collected it for the last 9 years, to repay themselves. Good luck!

I am not an expert in providing you any legal opinion, so I would suggest you to contact an attorney. Firstly, tell me what is your current status? An attorney can tell you the correct way to go through it. I recently found here about the attorney Bechara Tarabay who can guide you the right way. You can also check for any professional help from your area who will bring you out of this issue.