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Step parent adoption dad not notified?

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texasmomlost

Guest
What is the name of your state? Texas

Okay I am in Texas but situation occured in Pennsylvania(where dad is) and Connecticut. (where mom and daughter are)

My husband has not seen his daughter in about 5 years. Her mom took her and moved to Connecticut. DH never saw her again!
My question is I wonder if ex's husband adopted DH daughter. Is there anyway to find out? DH was not ever notified of an adoption but thinks it may have occured. Child support case was all of a sudden closed 4 months ago, child is not of adult age yet. Any help would be great!
 


Seanscott

Member
I don't know how you can find out if an adoption occured. Adoption records are sealed.
Since child support was stopped, your husband could be right in assuming an adoption has been completed. If his ex-wife could prove that he could not be found, she may have been able to terminate his rights, and proceed with an adoption without any notification, other than a newspaper ad.
Hopefully someone will come along with some helpful information for you.
 
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hexeliebe

Guest
You first need to determine WHY the child support case was closed and by whom. Find out where the support payments were being sent (if it was done by wage garnishment his boss will have that information).

This is the organization you will start with.

Regardless of what has happened, you need to answer a few questions.

Does your ex know how to get in touch with you?

Does the agency you are paying child support know where you are?

Have you been paying child support up until it was cancelled or stopped?

How was it stopped?

Under Pennsylvania's Adoption Act, parents of a minor child whose rights are to be terminated shall receive at least ten days notice by personal service or registered mail to their last known address or by other means as the court may require.

In the Interest of K.B., 2000 Pa. Super. Ct. 355 (Pennsylvania Superior Court, November 27, 2000). Opinion by Montemuro, J.: )

Based on my review of the above, even if an adoption has occurred (and that's doubtful since Pennsylvania requires at least six months of no contact and CS counts as contact) you could appeal and stand a good chance, on the face of failed service, to have the adoption overturned.

HOWEVER, you need to get going. Get the information you need and answer the questions above.

The entire Pa. statute regarding involuntary termination can be found here:
http://members.aol.com/StatutesP9/23.Cp.25B.html
 
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texasmomlost

Guest
hexeliebe said:


Does your ex know how to get in touch with you?

Does the agency you are paying child support know where you are?

Have you been paying child support up until it was cancelled or stopped?

How was it stopped?

Hexeliebe, I think I take back anything mean I said about you.;)



To answer your questions yes my DH's ex knows where we are. DH always sent her notices when we would move, they were certified and signed for when delivered to the address we had for her. It was actually forwarded to the Connecticut address, that is how we found out she was there.

Yes the courts know where we are. Child support has and always has been current. DH received a letter in the mail saying that ...

"Mrs.XXXX, has given us information leading to the closure of child support case #XXXX. As of August 1st 2003, defendent MR.XXXX will no longer be required to send in support in the amount of $569..."

Support was sent in to PA child support, then sent on to mom. DH has been sending it in and just got this letter even though it says support ceased in August. It did say a refund was owed of support.


How do you know which laws to follow, I read the PA stuff, very interesting. DH's daughter lives in Connecticut though, so do PA laws still apply?
 
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hexeliebe

Guest
The first thing you need to do is find out WHY the support was stopped. If the letter you got was from the state processing the support, call them (their number should be on the letter) and ask why?

You will probably be pointed to the court that determined the support will be stopped. You need them also to tell you why.

The reason I posted the Pennsylvania law is because you said the situation occurred in PA. HOWEVER, you need to contact the court where the support order was issued and see first if it retains jurisdiction or if jurisdiction has been moved to another state.

If the latter is the case, you need to find out where jurisdiction has been moved and contact the court there to see why support has been stopped.

At any rate, you need INFORMATION NOW!

As for the things you said about me, don't worry about it. I am not on here to make friends or be popular. I'm here to try to help those who need help whether they care or not. I have never worried what people think of me and at 50 I'm not about to start now.

Now, get going.
 
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LJLaw

Guest
I live in CT..and my son was adopted by my 2nd husband, with my approval of course, but only after 7 (SEVEN) years of trying to find the biological father failed ( and thousands in wasted attorney fees')...another matter..,, This is the law..They post an advert, in the Newspaper for 30 days, where the (lost-missing)parent last lived to notify him/her.. This is our Law. Usually you need consent to adopt a minor child from the parent. They need written consent from the Father/Mother, and to "attempt to notify him/her". Even if you, Notify" this doesn't count, they CAN protest it..and stop you from adopting their child. Chances are NO way they adopted the child (legally) or someone would have had to post a Newspaper article in the town you lived, tried to find the parent..something,....or where they knew you last lived..and even then.. It took us 7 (SEVEN) years and we ended up declaring him dead and the adoption went through finally no trouble..Check local Newspapers classified for notification of this pending adoption that you think took place,.. for the time you didn't see the child, or when you think this adoption may have happened..Chances are no adoption (legally) took place here, I hope this helps you.... True story, my own experience..
 
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hexeliebe

Guest
LJLaw

Just so you know, the laws of every state differ ever so slightly. That's why what your situation was doesn't apply to this poster.

The laws of Pennsylvania, where the information seems to come from and where the support was paid (until I hear different from the poster) only six months of no contact is required to begin adoption proceedings.

And, as our poster has informed us, although child support was cancelled, the clock on the six months begins to run at the cancellation of the support since support IS deemed contact under Pennsylvania law.

You might also notice that Pennsylvania only requires only that "...shall receive at least ten days notice by personal service or registered mail to their last known address or by other means as the court may require." although a judge might require posting of a notice in the newspaper, this is at the judge's discretion, not the law.
 

haiku

Senior Member
I could be wrong here but if the child was a resident of CT, wouldn' t the Ct. laws apply?

I only want to mention it because, my custody orders were (coincidently) made in Ct. but when my child was adopted by my husband, it was done following the adoption laws of the state we lived in at that time, Ct. had nothing to do with it. This was an uncontested adoption.

when the adoption process was final, I do believe all I did was call my states child support office, that was enforcing the Ct. order, that an adoption took place, and it was over.
 
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hexeliebe

Guest
It doesn't matter where the 'child' is a resident. What matters is where jurisdiction of the case is. In this case, until the poster returns to let us know the only thing I can assume is that Jurisdiction resides in Pa. where the child support payments were sent.

Termination of Parental Rights is like any other family issue. It must be filed in the same court that retains jurisdiction. Or, if the MOTHER has moved and become a resident of another state, she can file to 'domesticate' the order in her new state which would move jurisdiction to that state.

I doubt this is the case since it has only been four months since the support payments have been cancelled. I have based this on the following statement made by the poster..."Support was sent in to PA child support, then sent on to mom."

Seems now we need more information and I have asked the poster to call or write the agency which sent the cancellation notice to see why it was cancelled. If in fact, the case has been moved to CT. then yet, jurisdiction is moved there. But only after a court in CT has accepted jurisdiction. Then the CT law would apply.
 
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LJLaw

Guest
I posted my own experience, with how I viewed this info..this is the Law here in Ct. I read it as, "Her Mom took her to Ct. to live... and DH never saw her again"...
It reads to me as this child and Mom moved to CT. Therefore, they would go by CT. law. I didn't respond to child support or mention that at all!
I shared my own experience period, regarding the possibility of an adoption happening here in CT. (legally), nothing more. I actually wanted to help..perhaps this site isn't about helping.
I have to ask, as a new member, is everyone so critical of a person trying to help? Perhaps I should have injected sarcasm as most seem to do here? Most of the views I have read here are uninformative, flip, and belligerent..I thought I was finding a site to get legal info, or opinion. I see I was wrong. Are there any real attiorney's here to actually answer questions? If so, I asked one yesterday and would really love an answer. Then I'm out of here as I see nothing to learn..If no answer comes by today then I'll just chalk this up as a waste of time, a joke of a site with a lot of bored people.
 

cookie57

Member
My divorce took place in Washington State. My husband is filing for adoption here in Ohio. Jurisdiction has not been changed. If I want to fight for child support later on, I must do it through Washington State courts.
We may file here in Ohio because: #1) we have been residents of Ohio for at least a year 2#) we have been residents of this county for at least 60 days.
We couldn't do a TPR/adoption in Washington because we are not legal residents of that state. The courts here are interested in my divorce papers, but do not take over jurisdiction just to decide on a TPR/adoption.
If we wanted to change the custody papers or child support payments, I would either have to have jurisdiction changed, or go to Washington.
 

haiku

Senior Member
Ok.....I was just relating that in my case the child support case had NOTHING to do with the TPR and adoption. I did not petition to move jurisdiction, and it was never asked of us. My new state NEVER took jurisdiction of the support or custody, but they did do the adoption.

I just wanted to point out that maybe both states records needed to be explored.
 
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hexeliebe

Guest
It reads to me as this child and Mom moved to CT. Therefore, they would go by CT. law
No, you are completely wrong. It doesn't matter if the mother and child live in oregon, California, Bombay, India or the moon. Jurisdiction does not follow the family but the court order. As I said, if there is a valid court order in PA, THAT is the law that must be followed unless the steps to change jurisdiction to CT. are followed.

I shared my own experience period, regarding the possibility of an adoption happening here in CT. (legally), nothing more. I actually wanted to help..perhaps this site isn't about helping.
This site is about helping, not giving false information. Your post, while well-intentioned, has nothing to do with the LEGAL questions being asked. And false or wrong information most times does little to help. Instead, it wastes valuable time for the poster who needs to act now in securing the information I told them to get.

I have to ask, as a new member, is everyone so critical of a person trying to help?
I have have to answer Yes, when the information that person is trying to help with has no basis in law. And you got off easy LJLaw. There are others here who could have read you the riot act for posting false and misleading information.

Remember, If the poster obtains the information I told them to get and they discover that jurisdiction in fact still resides in PA, they have less than two months to act. And even if your guess is right and jurisdiction has been moved to CT, where would you propose they look? The only option for them is to contact the agency in PA which cancelled the Support order and find out why. If, in fact, it is because jurisdiction has been moved to CT, they will have the information on the specific court to contact.

I thought I was finding a site to get legal info, or opinion. I see I was wrong.
No, you were right. But the information you gave was not legally sound. So, we should all allow you to give that type of information and sooth your ego? And what about people who give you misleading or completely false information? Should we also let them get away with it? I don't think even you would want that.

Are there any real attiorney's here to actually answer questions? If so, I asked one yesterday and would really love an answer. Then I'm out of here as I see nothing to learn..If no answer comes by today then I'll just chalk this up as a waste of time, a joke of a site with a lot of bored people.
I'll tell you why I never answered your question and probably why no one else will. Immediately after posting your question you began giving legal advice to almost every thread. If you are that knowledgable about law then why would you need an answer? That's why I didn't waste my time. I can't answer for others.


To Haiku;

I agree. The support case has nothing to do with TPR. However, if the support case has been cancelled, there is a reason. It's imperative that the poster find this out because that's the key to resolving their questions. Just for clarification.
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
hexeliebe said:
Termination of Parental Rights is like any other family issue. It must be filed in the same court that retains jurisdiction. Or, if the MOTHER has moved and become a resident of another state, she can file to 'domesticate' the order in her new state which would move jurisdiction to that state.
I hate to hijack here but I want to ask something. Are you saying that TPR has to be filed in the same court that the CS is ordered? I ask this because I have an order in a town a few hours away(unable to get the jurisdiction changed, long story) but when I file for TPR I planned to seek a lawyer in my area. Does it make a difference that the absent parent hasnt' been found?
 

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