Husband Wants to Adopt

My question involves adoption law for the State of: Va.

i have been on and off with my husband(b4 he was my husband) for 5 years now. three years ago, (b4 we got married) i was with another man and that relationship resulted in a pregnancy. he split. and i married my husband when i was 2 months pregnant. he knew he is not and was not the father. my ex was not in our life at all throught the pregnancy and i had my child. however, NO ONE is listed as the father(pat. never established). my husband did not sign but, because of my last name, my child has his last name as well. well, my ex(biodad) returned in our life.. noy for long. he was there two months... denied my child... left for six months.. came back .. did same.. came back once more and denied her again.... now i have not heard from him and dontwanto hear from him. my husband wants to legally adopt to make sure biodad cannot return. she is alost two. wht steps do we take? involuntary of termanation of his parental rights with a step parent adoption is what i have been told i need to do

Your husband IS actually the child's legal father, even if his name isn't on the birth certificate.

You need to take your marriage license, and your child's birth certificate, and get that fixed. He doesn't need to adopt your child, and you don't have to allow any contact whatsoever with your ex.

Your ex doesn't have any rights to terminate.

can my ex file for paternity in court? this is why husband wants to adopt so he can never do that

Your husband can't adopt his own child.

The child is his, already. Your ex can file in court if he chooses to, but you may be able to rebut the challenge given that you have an intact marriage. This isn't a guarantee, though.

okay. let's say one day biodad stops wanting to BS me and decides he wants something to do with our daughter and takes it to court and since it is his biological child could possibly win. can i get him for neglect and petition courts for an involuntairy termination of rights with a stepparent adoption?

No. He hasn't neglected or abandoned anything or anyone. He is not obliged to provide one single cent of child support, nor one minute of time with the child.

If he is established as Dad and wants to be Dad, the court will go out of its way to ensure that he's allowed to be Dad.

You can't "get him" for anything.

You're not going to get him for neglect. The child has had a legal father all along, and he'd have equal claim that YOU could have brought suit to establish him as the father (which you could have), but chose not to. If bio dad returns, Virginia allows him until the child turns 18 (age of majority) to ATTEMPT to establish paternity. IF DNA shows him to be the father, the court would have to evaluate the totality of circumstances to determine if a change would be in the child's best interest. The short answer is, yes, he could POSSIBLY win parental rights (and the responsibility of child support), and under Virginia law, there's no way to block him from attempting to do so. You'll simply have to argue for status quo if he ever does bring a case.

ok thanks. i understand. but i still have a question and it has nothing to do with my situation. does virgina law allow termination of rights with a step parent adoption? yes or no

By definition, yes, a step parent adoption terminates rights of the existing parent. However, as it stands right now, there is no step-parent, there is only a PARENT, in the form of your husband. Bio dad is a complete stranger to the child and will stay that way until and unless a paternity suit is filed and the judge rules that the current parent's rights be terminated in favor of establishing the biological father as parent (which isn't likely, but legally possible). No one will ever be a step-parent in this scenario.