Q: I recently moved back to NY from FL. I have an 8 year old daughter who has not seen her bio father since she was about 1.5 yr old. & does not know him. After her birth, he became an abusive drug dealer, in and out of jail on drug charges, warrants and more recently, domestic battery by strangulation and assault with a deadly weapon on his current wife. I personally never filed a report on the abuse I endured due to the death threats he made. So I know I wont have much leverage in court on that. However he does have the other charges along with him barely making child support payments. My husband wants to legally adopt my child since he he's been here for her since she was 2. I spoke with my ex on this. He stated he would fight me in court just to make me suffer. Can I terminate his rights?
He is on birth certificate.
No custody order.
There is a support order.
A: David's Answer: Yes - you can terminate his parental rights in the context of an adoption case so long as you satisfy grounds of legal abandonment. This basically means that for at least a 6-month period prior to the filing of the adoption case, the biological father has not had significant contact with the child. If the answer is yes, then I say proceed with the step-parent adoption case. Schedule a consult with a Bronx Child Custody lawyer for a full assessment. -- David Bliven, Bronx Child Custody attorney (www.blivenlaw.net)
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