I have filed for a stepparent adoption without consent in Ohio. In this state for an adoption with out the consent the bio father must have not paid support or had any contact with the child for 12 months. Our case meets this requirement, but the bio father was in prison during the entire year.

He has served over 6 years in prison and or halfway houses ( 3 different sentences) during the child's 8.5 year life. During one of these prison stays he actually paid a very small amount of support out of the money he earned while incarcerated. So he has proven the ability to pay support, but has not during the last year, even though he was in prison. He has sent some letters to the child while he was locked up, but again not within the last 12 months.

The bio Father is now currently on parole and we have heard that he plans on contesting th adoption. Does he have a leg to stand on when it comes stopping this adoption? If he has the means to hire an attorney will this affect how the court considers his contest?

We genuinely feel that this adoption is in my (step)son's best interest. I've been in his life for over six years and his mother and i been married for over 2 years. He knows I'm not his "real" father but I'm the only father he has ever really known. He hasn't seen the bio father since he was 2 and has no memory of him at all.

Any info on similar situations, or thoughts about our situation would be greatly appreciated!

I have filed for a stepparent adoption without consent in Ohio. In this state for an adoption with out the consent the bio father must have not paid support or had any contact with the child for 12 months. Our case meets this requirement, but the bio father was in prison during the entire year.

He has served over 6 years in prison and or halfway houses ( 3 different sentences) during the child's 8.5 year life. During one of these prison stays he actually paid a very small amount of support out of the money he earned while incarcerated. So he has proven the ability to pay support, but has not during the last year, even though he was in prison. He has sent some letters to the child while he was locked up, but again not within the last 12 months.

The bio Father is now currently on parole and we have heard that he plans on contesting th adoption. Does he have a leg to stand on when it comes stopping this adoption? If he has the means to hire an attorney will this affect how the court considers his contest?

We genuinely feel that this adoption is in my (step)son's best interest. I've been in his life for over six years and his mother and i been married for over 2 years. He knows I'm not his "real" father but I'm the only father he has ever really known. He hasn't seen the bio father since he was 2 and has no memory of him at all.

Any info on similar situations, or thoughts about our situation would be greatly appreciated!

It's really hard to guess what a Judge will do, but hopefully a Judge will see the truth. Do you have an attorney? If he does object, it would really be a good idea for you to get an attorney, I know it's expensive but an attorney will have an easier time convincing a Judge to allow adoption than you ould by yourself.

Has your step son ever been in counseling? If so, make sure those reports are available in court. Also, has a guardian ad litem ever been involved? That can help also.

I wish you the best and I'm praying that the court allows the adoption.

Yes we have an attorney that has handled everything so far. His done all the paper work etc. He doesn't seem to think there will be a problem , even if he does contest it.

My son was in counseling 4 years ago for awhile, but was diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction. He then started occupational therapy as apposed to general counseling. The counselor did recommend that bio father not have contact with him, but that was 4 years ago.

We were hoping to hear from people that have been in a similar situation for some reassurance.

Thank you for your thoughts!

Yes we have an attorney that has handled everything so far. His done all the paper work etc. He doesn't seem to think there will be a problem , even if he does contest it.

My son was in counseling 4 years ago for awhile, but was diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction. He then started occupational therapy as apposed to general counseling. The counselor did recommend that bio father not have contact with him, but that was 4 years ago.

We were hoping to hear from people that have been in a similar situation for some reassurance.

Thank you for your thoughts!
Stick around for Ohio Step Mom. She will probably be able to give you more insight on this topic than anyone else I can think of. Good luck and hang in there.

Circumstances That Are Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights
? 2151.414


The parent has abandoned the child.
The parent is unable to discharge his or her parental duties due to:

Chronic mental or emotional illness
Mental retardation or physical disability
Chemical dependency

The parent is incarcerated for an offense committed against the child or a sibling of the child.
The parent is incarcerated and thereby will not be available to care for the child for at least 18 months, or the parent is repeatedly incarcerated, and the repeated incarceration prevents the parent from providing care for the child.
The parent has committed any abuse against the child, or caused or allowed the child to suffer any neglect.
Reasonable efforts to rehabilitate the parent have failed.
The parent has been convicted of or pled guilty to:

Murder, aggravated murder, or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent or another child living in the household
Assault, aggravated assault, or felonious assault of the child, a sibling, or another child living in the household
Endangering children, rape, sexual battery, corruption of a minor, sexual imposition, or gross sexual imposition, and the victim was the child, a sibling, or another child in the household
A conspiracy or attempt to commit any of the offenses described above
The parent has demonstrated a lack of commitment to the child by failing to regularly support, visit, or communicate with the child when able to do so.
The parent for any reason is unwilling to provide food, clothing, shelter, and other basic necessities for the child or to prevent the child from suffering physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or physical, emotional, or mental neglect.
The parent has placed the child at substantial risk of harm due to alcohol or drug abuse, and has refused treatment.
Parental rights to another child of the parent have been involuntarily terminated.



Who Must Consent to an Adoption
Citation: ? 3107.06


The mother
The father:

If the child was conceived or born while he was married to the mother
If he is the adoptive father
If he has established paternity

The putative father
Any agency or person having permanent custody
The court having jurisdiction to determine custody


When Parental Consent is not Needed
Citation: ? 3107.07


The parent has failed to contact or provide for the child for 1 year.
The putative father has failed to register with the putative father registry within 30 days of the child?s birth.
The putative father is not the actual father or has abandoned the child before or after birth.
The parent has relinquished rights or has had parental rights terminated.
The father or putative father is convicted of a rape that results in the conception of the child.
A guardian or custodian withholds consent unreasonably.
A parent or guardian is in a foreign country and child has been released for adoption pursuant to laws in that country.



Who May Adopt
Citation: Rev. Code ? 3107.03
The following persons may adopt:

A husband and wife together, at least one of whom is an adult
An unmarried adult or a married person singly if legally separated
The unmarried minor parent of the person to be adopted
A stepparent


Who May Be Adopted
Citation: Rev. Code ? 3107.02
The following persons may be adopted:

Any minor
An adult if he or she is:
Totally and permanently disabled
Mentally retarded
A stepchild or foster child of the adoptive parent and the relationship was established while the adopted person was still a minor


I've highlighted the portions that seem to pertain to your case. I don't think the bio father could put up much of a defense given his history. You didn't say why he was in prison, but they usually avoid putting innocent people there. In Ohio, abandonment is going more than 90 days without contact or support. Even if contact or support resumes after the 90 day timeframe, it still counts as abandonment. I would trust your attorney. I don't see anything or anyone being able to stand in your way. Any ONE of those reasons for termination is all the court needs.

Good luck to you and I hope all works out for your family.

Here is the link for the Ohio Revised Code. Go to Domestic Relations: Children and you'll find the heading of Adoption. http://onlinedocs.andersonpublishing.com/oh/lpExt.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=PORC

OSM

Thank you for all of that info!

You might know something about this too then. If he does how up to contest it will he be able to testify on "how he's changed etc", or will he only have th chance to disprove our claims of lack of support and/or contact?

He's been out for about 2 months and so far seems to be doing okay for himself. We've kept good tabs on him thru the people he is living with. He is working, but has yet to start paying support. We are just worried that he will try to convince a judge he has changed.

One way is to not wait around for him to make any "changes". Since you already have an attorney and I am assuming have started the paperwork, he's going to have to provide evidence of paying the CS and contact with the child. (phone records, witnesses, return receipt letters, emails, etc...) He would also have to explain why, since his release, if he has changed, why there still hasn't been contact or support. Those are just the issues of demonstrated lack of commitment and abandonment. He can't get up there and deny his repeated and / or lengthy incarceration(s). If the child is only 8 and he's been in prison for 6 of those years, kind of hard to prove that his interests lie with the child. More so it proves that he is unfit to have influence on (be around) the child.

Have you thought of releasing him from his arrearage obligations if he just signs his rights away? I know that sounds sneaky or underhanded but if he is willing to do it, his priorities are not for the child anyway.

Just a thought.

We have done everything we can to get this adoption done before he has the chance to "change". We purposely filed for the adoption 1 week before his release so that he would be served with the paper work right after his release. This was also done so that we could say as of "this date" it has been at least 1 year since the CS payment or contact has been made. Once we've filed he can pay or have contact and it should not matter, as far as we understand it.

In the past (while he was in carecated and in between times) we have received some support. All the money that we have gotten has been placed into a savings account for our sons future. He currently owes around 28,000 in rearranges. Any future money we get will also go into this trust. We would like to keep the back support for this reason. Also, once our son reaches the age of 18 he can pursue the bio father for what he owes. We don't want to take this option away from him if possible. We did talk to our attorney about it and he said that the courts frown upon letting go of the back support for this very reason.

We have had the home study, and background checks done. The hearing is set for march 1st. Hopefully this will all be over then and we can all go on with our lives.

BTW what county are you in? We are in Marion county

Had our hearing today. The biofather showed up at the last minute by himself. Once the hearing started he was asked if he wanted to contest and he said yes. He was asked if he would like to seek the advice of an attorney, he of course said yes. So they setup a continuance for 30 days with no further continuances after that.

That stinks. I guess we'll see in 30 days if he can find an attorney that would take his case. An ethical one would tell him doesn't have a case. Then again, ethical lawyers could fit in the palm of a raccoon.

Well as soon as he got there our attorney went to speak to him outside. He elluded to the idea of singing a consent if we dropped the back support. He didn't mention it in court though.

After the hearing the judge came in to speak to our attorney and said , " any competent attorney is going to tell him to back off from this contest". I thought i was kina weird that he said that infront of us, but reassuring aswell.

Had our hearing today. The biofather showed up at the last minute by himself. Once the hearing started he was asked if he wanted to contest and he said yes. He was asked if he would like to seek the advice of an attorney, he of course said yes. So they setup a continuance for 30 days with no further continuances after that.

Cool, it's actually a good thing that the Judge is allowing him the 30 days because the Judge is setting it up so that ex won't have any reason to appeal. Sometimes lawyers and Judges know that it's better to make sure a person's rights are "protected" and by doing so they are also helping to ensure that appeals can't be used so easily.

You just have 30 more days, I'm sure it seems like a long time, but the days will fly by so try to look at the end of the 30 days rather than the delay. Please continue to keep us updated.

We has our hearing on Friday April 6. The bio father did not even bother to show up after he was originally granted a 30 day continuance to seek legal counsel.

The adoption went through with no problems what so ever. It was truly a great day, making good Friday "extra good Friday" in our house. We are planning a reception for our son in a few weeks so all of our family can help us celebrate.

We coulnd't be happier and thanks to all those that have repsonded to my posts.

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations!! I am so happy for all of you that I just can't even begin to explain it!

What an excellent Good Friday for your FAMILY.

Again, so happy for you, give YOUR son a hug for me please.


OSM

Thanks so much. I just hope other people can find some info and reassurance through our experience.

We has our hearing on Friday April 6. The bio father did not even bother to show up after he was originally granted a 30 day continuance to seek legal counsel.

The adoption went through with no problems what so ever. It was truly a great day, making good Friday "extra good Friday" in our house. We are planning a reception for our son in a few weeks so all of our family can help us celebrate.

We coulnd't be happier and thanks to all those that have repsonded to my posts.

That is wonderful! Congratulations. I love to hear about the good endings, thanks for taking the time to let us know.