If the father of my stepchild is not on the birth certificate, does he have any “rights”?
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If the father of my stepchild is not on the birth certificate, does he have any “rights”?
The father of my step-daughter has not had any contact with her in over 18 months (she’s 2 1/2) and hadn’t had any contact with my wife until recently (he found out that I wanted to adopt). If he won’t give consent for the adoption, and chances of me getting his “parental rights” revoked/involuntary termination would probably be slim/more difficult (even with his past and wrap sheet), if we left the situation the way it is now, does he have rights?
Asked on May 4, 2011 under Family Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
He is the father, biologically and legally. So as much as you wish to adopt her (which is wonderful and shows how loving you are), she is still considered the legal daughter of her father. Parental termination of rights is not unilateral and must include him in the proceedings. If he wishes to be in her life, your wife would do best to ensure her daughter's economic and non economic concerns are taken care of by taking him to court to sue for child custody (full custody), child support and of course to arrange visitation time periods for the daughter (supervised, of course). So the father has rights, but talk to a family law attorney maybe there is something you can do.
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