Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
I live in Cypress Texas, Separated my ex husband (lives in Corpus I believe) when my son was 2 and finally legally divorced him when he was 5. To make things easier I agreed to joint custody, I was low on funds at the time only being 23 and his biological father being 8 years older than I was more financially stable. Yes, I was 17 when I got pregnant and his biological father was 25. My son turns 13 this year and his father has only seen him twice, once when he was 6 and then recently about a month ago. He has spoken to him on the phone maybe 3 times in the past 8 years. I am remarried and my husband now wants to adopt my child. His biological father is on court ordered child support and I believe they automatically deduct it from his paycheck. I called him to ask him if he would agree to the adoption and he said "No, that is my only child". I get it, but he is not an active part of his life at all. Can I seek a name change or step parent adoption without his biological father's approval? My husband who is raising him wants to add him to his medical insurance, life insurance and wants my son to feel like he belongs. My son even calls him dad. My husband has no criminal record, works as a paramedic for the past 12 years and does no drugs. I have no criminal record, do no drugs and am also stable. My son's biological father has a criminal record from many years ago, was paroled out but finished his parole with no problems. He is also remarried, but I know nothing else of him besides that he drinks alcohol. Please help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
The short answer is no.
If he is current on his child support it will be difficult to terminate his parental rights.
Dad's criminal past is long ago and therefore irrelevant.
You need to sit down with an experienced family law attorney and determine if there is any chance that this step-parent adoption would be approved. Based on the limited facts you presented, if he says no the judge might not do it.
The good news is that as soon as your son turns 18 he can do an adoption without notifying the dad.
Look on this website and www.avvo.com for an attorney in your area.
www.familylaw4u.com
713-847-6000
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