Abandonment in Stepparent Adoption

If you are considering stepparent adoption, the time is right in the case of abandonment. If the natural parent has abandoned the child, the stepparent can adopt. But what does abandonment actually mean? Abandonment is a huge question in a stepparent adoption case because the court can consider that a parent has given implied consent to the adoption if they have abandoned the child. But first, let’s try and define the term “abandonment” the way that the court will see it in an adoption.

The Nature of Abandonment in Stepparent Adoption

First, for abandonment to matter in a stepparent adoption, it must be voluntary, intentional, and without good cause. So, to take an extreme example, if the legal parent has been kidnapped for 6 months, their abandonment of the child will not be held against them. To make this more realistic, if the parent who has physical custody of the child moves and doesn’t tell the legal parent where they are, and blocks all contact with the legal parent, and the legal parent makes reasonable efforts to locate the custodial parent, the legal parent’s abandonment will not be held against them in an adoption.

 

So, the nature of abandonment must be voluntary, intentional, and without good cause. The circumstances of abandonment might be failing or refusing to

• Claim the rights of a parent.
• Perform the duties of a parent.
• Or, relinquishing custody of the child

Then there is a catch all provision: that covers a legal parents’ withholding of his or her

• presence,
• care,
• love,
• protection,
• support,
• maintenance, or
• display of filial affection.

If one of more of these grounds are present, the court can make a finding of implied consent against that parent. This means that their express consent is not required. Actually tracking down an abandoning parent is not necessary.

 

However, there are a few more contingencies.

 

Length of Abandonment for a Stepparent Adoption Case – 4 months

 

For a parent’s abandonment to count toward implied consent, it must occur within a very strict window of time. Namely, it must occur in the 4 months immediately preceding the filing of the adoption petition. This is a new provision of Alabama’s new adoption code. Prior to this change, the period of abandonment could be any time to qualify for implied consent.

 

So, for the sake of your child’s stability, it may be advisable to act promptly after there has been 4 months of abandonment.

 

Pre-Birth Abandonment

There is one more kind of abandonment that is worth mentioning. Pre-birth abandonment also triggers implied consent. This type of abandonment occurs when a father fails to offer the mother financial or emotional support. The time period for this abandonment is similar to the above. It must occur during the 4 months immediately preceding the birth of the adoptee. This kind of implied consent cannot be “withdraw” by a father’s later good acts.

 

Now, there’s an odd caveat to this kind of abandonment. Namely, the father must know or have reason to know of the pregnancy. It takes some stretch of the imagination to think of a situation where the father would not know or have reason to know of the pregnancy. But, there it is. Just in case.

 

Conclusion

If you are a stepparent seeking to adopt your child, consider this carefully. Just because you can’t (or don’t want to) contact the other natural parent doesn’t mean your child can’t be adopted. There is almost always a path forward for adoption. Please call us today to set up a consultation and discuss more.