Legal Question in Family Law in Ohio

My daughter was adopted by her stepdad when she was one. She's 13 now and I am very aware I can't contact her and I have not in any way. I haven't seen or talked to her in 12 years. The mother continually has threatened to slap me with a restrainting order. I keep trying to tell her I'm in no way coming after her kid. My question is, can she get me in trouble for just being somewhere they are in public, like a ballgame or McDonald's...even if I don't speak to them. Can she get me in legal trouble for being where they're at? Also she has a stepson and were friends with the mother. She is also saying shell keep us away from him. Can she control who he sees while he's at his mother's for visitation? We pose no threat and that has nothing to do with the daughter situation. How much control does she have and how much can she really do if we don't even speak???


Asked on 3/25/13, 8:18 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Benjamin Partee Partee Law

When you give up a child for adoption, your parental rights are terminated, and it's as if you are a stranger to the child. You have no rights as to the child. However, so long as you're not trying to contact the child, and you're not harassing the family or the child, I doubt that the mother is going to be able to get a restraining order against you.

There is no prohibition against you happening to be in the same physical place as the child you gave up for adoption. As to the stepson, this is a question for the child's mother. If the stepmother is trying to interfere with the mother's visitation, the mother should talk to her lawyer about how to proceed.

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Answered on 3/26/13, 5:45 am


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