QUESTION
What do I do on a termination of parental rights and a stepparent adoption after?
Asked on Jul 16th, 2014 on Child Custody - Nevada
More details to this question:
My daughter was born on July 9th, 2012. In the beginning, her biological father was present at her birth though he did not sign her birth certificate and he paid voluntary child support for a period from July 9, 2012 to January, 2013. He regularly visited her up until around January, 2013 and then didn't visit nor pay child support for a period up until July 9th, 2013. He then contacted wanting to see her for her birthday then once again maintained no contact until December, 2013 for Christmas. After this, he once again did contact until July 9th, 2014 and now wants to set up visitation times and schedule to see her but has made no mention of child support and missed or failed to inform us that he would be getting a hold of us later for his first voluntary visitation - July 15, 2014. He has three times come to see her under the influence of alcohol or drugs, though I have no proof of that. I do have proof he has failed to pay child support for almost a year and a half. I want to file a petition to terminate his parental rights and allow my husband to adopt her. No paternity has been established, as he has failed to go to court to establish it. Under Nevada Statute, I read this constitutes abandonment as well as many of his other behaviors. A few of the times he came to see her, he was under the influence of drugs/alcohol. I'd also like to file a motion for a drug test to prove unfit parent without him being knowing or able to get drugs out of his system first. I'd like to know what to expect from this hearing, as well as my chances to win. He only wanted to see her after I asked him to voluntarily sign off rights and he refused, he made no mention of it prior. The fact that he has contacted/is wanting to visit now is complex but may simply be a "token effort" under Nevada law, and I truly believe it would be in my child's best interests to be adopted by her stepfather. If we were to ask her in court, "Where's dada?", she would point to her stepdad.
2 ANSWERS
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You do not have enough to terminate parental rights, as such requires a minimum of 6 months with absolutely no contact plus more. In your situation, dad has basically reached out twice a year. Parental rights have constitutional protection, and are not easily terminated. To even try to do so, you would need an attorney. If you want child support, file with the DA's office. Then you will have a record as to whether or not dad pays. If you want visitation parameters, such as requiring sobriety and some way to prove that, file a custody case. Or set the parameters in writing and tell dad he must comply if he doesn't like it, he can file a custody case. At the very least, you should consult with an attorney to go over all of your facts and set up a game plan for moving forward.
Answered on Jul 21st, 2014 at 4:39 PM
Such questions are always very fact-specific - and there is never really enough background in an e-mail. Nevertheless, it is clear that you have reviewed at least some materials on the subject. Additionally, it is a bit unclear which way you want this to go - are you trying to force bio-dad to actually pay arrears, provide support, and be a factor in the child's life, or trying to get rid of him in all respects? I suggest you figure out which way you really want to proceed, and then consider a consultation with this office, or another family law specialty firm, to determine what to do and how to do it.
Answered on Jul 21st, 2014 at 4:36 PM