Stepparent Adoption In Ohio

[mommaof2boys]

My question involves adoption law for the State of: Ohio

Ok I guess I will start from the beginning with a short version of our story. My husband and I have been married for 6 and a half years now. His divorce with his exwife took a very long time and through the process we were raising his children. We quit paying child support because we could not afford to raise them and pay her. After the divorce was final we got married Oct. 01, in the meantime she met someone got pregnant and this guy started physically abusing our youngest. The court found that she could not have them on her own time and granted her supervised visits in our home. SHe had 90 days to petition the court but never did. After a year and a half of visits she quit coming. THere was no explanation just quit showing up. That was over 4 years ago. We are currently looking into me adopting both children.

I have 2 questions regarding all of this:

1. The arrearage that is owed to her was put into a future's account, she has not had to physically pay us yet. Will the judge look at that as though she has been paying the support she owes and in return see that as her not abandoning them?

2. The children are now almost 14 and almost 11, they want me to adopt them, will that matter to the judge?

[Xena]

My question involves adoption law for the State of: Ohio

Ok I guess I will start from the beginning with a short version of our story. My husband and I have been married for 6 and a half years now. His divorce with his exwife took a very long time and through the process we were raising his children. We quit paying child support because we could not afford to raise them and pay her. After the divorce was final we got married Oct. 01, in the meantime she met someone got pregnant and this guy started physically abusing our youngest. The court found that she could not have them on her own time and granted her supervised visits in our home. SHe had 90 days to petition the court but never did. After a year and a half of visits she quit coming. THere was no explanation just quit showing up. That was over 4 years ago. We are currently looking into me adopting both children.

I have 2 questions regarding all of this:

1. The arrearage that is owed to her was put into a future's account, she has not had to physically pay us yet. Will the judge look at that as though she has been paying the support she owes and in return see that as her not abandoning them?

2. The children are now almost 14 and almost 11, they want me to adopt them, will that matter to the judge?

You should get a consult with a local attorney. There are several possible problems with the situation and only an attorney will be able to tell you if an adoption is feasable without mom's consent.

[aaron]

You may find this article on step-parent adoption from the Ohio State Bar to be helpful.

Yes. There are two exceptions to this rule. If the "other" natural parent has failed, without justification, to 1) communicate with the child, or 2) financially support the child, for a period of one year before the filing of the adoption petition, that parent's consent is not required and the adoption can proceed. Other exceptions may apply to "putative fathers" and parents whose parental rights have been terminated by a juvenile court.