Terminating parental rights

[tammycrouch]

I have a 2 1\2 year old son, Jacob. His biological father left before he was born, and he hasn't seen him since he was 2 months old. Even then, he had only seen him 4 times in those 2 months. He paid child support off and on for about 8 1\2 months. The last check I seen was for $13.72. That was in October of 1999. I never received the full amount of monthly child support in any month, and what I did receive was never sent month to month, consecutively. I have a friend in a similiar situation. She said that here in WV, the law is that if the father, (or mother),has no contact, and pays no child support for six (6) months, consecutively, that the parent automatically terminates his/her parental rights. Is this true, and if so, how can I get it in writing. I have done without his money this long, and I certainly don't want it now. His parents have even testified that I bent over backwards for him to see his child. He willingly never showed or cared. We actually saw him out in a store a few times, and he didn't even recognize Jacob. I'm getting married January 1, and my fiance would love to adopt Jacob. Can we do this without having to drag Jake's biological father into court? The way I see it, if he wanted to be involoved in my son's life, he should've done it 2 1\2 years ago. I'm afraid that if something would happen to me, that Jake would be turned over to his biological father, who is nothing but a stranger to him. I'm not a spiteful person, but I will not tolerate anyone treating my son like his feelings don't matter. I just want to assure that he will stay with the family that has always been here for him and loved him from the beginning.

Sincerely,
Tammy L. Crouch

 

[LegalBeagle]

I have a 2 1\2 year old son, Jacob. His biological father left before he was born, and he hasn't seen him since he was 2 months old. Even then, he had only seen him 4 times in those 2 months. He paid child support off and on for about 8 1\2 months. The last check I seen was for $13.72. That was in October of 1999. I never received the full amount of monthly child support in any month, and what I did receive was never sent month to month, consecutively. I have a friend in a similiar situation. She said that here in WV, the law is that if the father, (or mother),has no contact, and pays no child support for six (6) months, consecutively, that the parent automatically terminates his/her parental rights. Is this true, and if so, how can I get it in writing. I have done without his money this long, and I certainly don't want it now. His parents have even testified that I bent over backwards for him to see his child. He willingly never showed or cared. We actually saw him out in a store a few times, and he didn't even recognize Jacob. I'm getting married January 1, and my fiance would love to adopt Jacob. Can we do this without having to drag Jake's biological father into court? The way I see it, if he wanted to be involoved in my son's life, he should've done it 2 1\2 years ago. I'm afraid that if something would happen to me, that Jake would be turned over to his biological father, who is nothing but a stranger to him. I'm not a spiteful person, but I will not tolerate anyone treating my son like his feelings don't matter. I just want to assure that he will stay with the family that has always been here for him and loved him from the beginning.

Sincerely,
Tammy L. Crouch

Your best approach would be to call a few local attorneys. If you do procede with an adoption then you are going to need an attorney anyway. It is not true that someone loses parental right just because they have no paid support or not visited in 6 months.

You might want to ask the father if he wants to allow the adoption as his agreement will make things a lot easier. You could mention that he owes 1000's of dollars in CS and you will make it all disappear if he agrees.