Who decides what is best for a child?

[respectworthy]

What is the name of your state?NC
My daughter is 15 years old and she desperately wants to be adopted by my husband - the man she considers to be her daddy. The bio will not allow this - he will not consent although he has never had anything to do with her other than the state garnishment of his wages for child support. He has never willingly paid the 50.00 a month it has always been taken from his pay (when he works). he has 5 children, 1 of which the state terminated his rights on. He even tried to take custody of my daughter and told the judge, "I want custody so I do not have to pay child support." My daughter wants to be adopted by her "dad" is there any way of getting the adoption without the consent of the bio? What about changing her name? I am brand new to NC so if anyone can help - PLease - we need you. - Laura and Jub

[Grace_Adler]

You can't just change her name without a court order from a judge.

Most people's child support is taken out of their paychecks. I mean, why would he pay it when the state takes it out? Then he'd be paying twice. Maybe I'm missing something here? Even if he paid it, the state is still going to take it out of his check.

Here are the grounds to have a parent's rights terminated in NC. Unless the father consents or you can file for a TPR on one of the grounds listed, then he can't adopt her.

This gives the entire statutes on terminating parental rights.

[url]http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_7B/Article_11.html[/url]


This one just lists grounds to file a TPR.

[url]http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_7B/GS_7B-1111.html[/url]

If you find you are able to file a TPR on one of the grounds listed in the link to the statutes I provided, then if you need more info on stepparent adoptions and how to file, let me know.

Forgot to add, in order to file for either one, you have to have been a resident here for 6 months or more.

If this is something you really feel is in the best interst of your child, then you might want to let him know if it's child support he wants to get out of, then he won't have to pay child support anymore once his rights are terminated.