Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina
adoption
My child has turned 16 and now wants to be adopted by her stepfather. The natural father has had no contact with her over the last 14 yrs. He sporatically pays support.....only when in danger of being locked up. How do we do this adoption in Wayne county NC without having to wait 2 more years or having a long drawn out process of never contacting him to terminate his rights?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: adoption
Step-dad can't unilaterally adopt your daughter without dad's consent (with some exceptions). This may involve termination of parental rights and his child support obligation. Failure to pay child support for one year by decree or custody agreement is one of the grounds for terminating parental rights. To see all of them, see N.C. Gen. Stat. 7B-1111.
Unless circumstances dictate otherwise, I generally advise against it as you have a duty to your child to maximize available financial assistance to meet her needs.
This is something you should really discuss with an attorney face to face.
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