Step Parent Adoption and Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights

**cosa chula** · 03-31-2011, 08:56 AM

My question involves adoption law for the State of: VIRGINIA
My husband has been raising my daughter since she was 13 months old, all the way up to the age of 4, her bio-dad had been in her life on and off. He has only paid child support on 3 occasions. He is self employed and child support can never find him, when he was living in Virginia he moved and changed jobs continously in effort to get away from child support. Back in 2008 he apparently left the state to unknown whereabouts, he never said good bye and pretty much abandoned our daughter, he has not had any contact whatsoever with us, he has never tried to call or anything of that matter. I asked him in the past if he would like to give up his rights so my husband could adopt her and he can move on with his life but his pride of course got in the way and now it's been this long with no contact from him. My husband wants to adopt her. I have sole custody of her. What can be done?

I was giving sole custody without prejudice to the father, what does that mean?
How can I get his rights terminated?

**aardvarc** · 03-31-2011, 10:44 AM

You need to be working with an attorney. What you're seeking CAN be done, but it requires VERY strict processes to prove to the court that EVERYTHING that could be tried to locate dad and notify him of the adoption has in fact been done. Having an experienced attorney help with those processes is really the only way to make sure that all the "i"s are dotted and "t"s crossed in such a way that dad can't later come back and challenge the adoption. Once the notification problem is solved, the rest is the "easy" part.

**cosa chula** · 03-31-2011, 10:50 AM

I understand he needs to be notified, but when I asked him years algo he did not want to give up his rights. Now I pretty much have to force it. But we have no contact with him. Do you happen to know the price range a case like this will cost me?
Also what does sole custody without prejudice to the father mean?

**Dogmatique** · 03-31-2011, 12:17 PM

Quoting cosa chula

I understand he needs to be notified, but when I asked him years algo he did not want to give up his rights. Now I pretty much have to force it. But we have no contact with him. Do you happen to know the price range a case like this will cost me?
Also what does sole custody without prejudice to the father mean?

It can cost anything from a couple of thousand dollars, to over $10k.

"sole custody without prejudice to the father" = you have sole custody, but Dad is not at fault or unfit.