Patrnity and adoption

[KenzyBraysmom]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ny state

I have a 10 month old son whose father and I split up when I was 4 months pregnant, he was involved with our son from the time that he was 3 weeks old until he was 5 weeks old, he went to jail and upon being released wanted nothing to do with our son, my current fiance and I have been together through all of this and he has encouraged the bio dad to be involved to no avail. I have tried to get him to submit to 3 paternity tests and he refuses, stating that he does not want to be on the hook for CS, he has 2 other daughters, one of which he has had nothing to do with since she was 2 years old, she is now 10 years old and the other he happily supports and is with as much as possible. He is now in state prison and will be until August provided that he finishes program. My fiance has been the sole supporter of my son (I am a stay at home Mom due to my childs medical problems) and my son knows him as his Dad... we have set a wedding day for June of 2010 and he wants to adopt Brayden and make him legally his son. So after all this rambling my question is does his bio Dad need to submit to the paternity test and sign over his rights for my fiance to adopt him? I know that if he does submit to the paternity test he will be an utter jerk and refuse to sign over his parental rights but doesnt want the burden of supporting his child... apparnetly he wants his cake and he wants to eat it too... typical dead beat Dad.

I realize that I will need to pursue a lawyer to finalize the adoption but is it worth starting the process?

[Gracie3787]

Originally Posted by KenzyBraysmom

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ny state

I have a 10 month old son whose father and I split up when I was 4 months pregnant, he was involved with our son from the time that he was 3 weeks old until he was 5 weeks old, he went to jail and upon being released wanted nothing to do with our son, my current fiance and I have been together through all of this and he has encouraged the bio dad to be involved to no avail. I have tried to get him to submit to 3 paternity tests and he refuses, stating that he does not want to be on the hook for CS, he has 2 other daughters, one of which he has had nothing to do with since she was 2 years old, she is now 10 years old and the other he happily supports and is with as much as possible. He is now in state prison and will be until August provided that he finishes program. My fiance has been the sole supporter of my son (I am a stay at home Mom due to my childs medical problems) and my son knows him as his Dad... we have set a wedding day for June of 2010 and he wants to adopt Brayden and make him legally his son. So after all this rambling my question is does his bio Dad need to submit to the paternity test and sign over his rights for my fiance to adopt him? I know that if he does submit to the paternity test he will be an utter jerk and refuse to sign over his parental rights but doesnt want the burden of supporting his child... apparnetly he wants his cake and he wants to eat it too... typical dead beat Dad.

I realize that I will need to pursue a lawyer to finalize the adoption but is it worth starting the process?

You and fiance will need to be married for at least 1 yr. At that time, you should hire an attorney because the father will have to be notified, and the laws regarding a step parent adoption are complicated.