Does Abandonment Matter?
Every law student is trained the same way. When you’re asked a direct question, answer the question, then explain – if needed. So, I’ll try to represent my legal education well:
Yes, abandonment matters in adoption.
In fact, it’s usually more significant than abuse and neglect for two reasons. One, abandonment is easier to prove. And two, abandonment usually does more harm than abuse and neglect.
What is Abandonment?
According to the Alabama Adoption Code, abandonment is:
1. the voluntary and intentional failure or refusal, without good cause or excuse,
a. to claim the rights of a parent, or
b. to perform the duties of a parent, or
2. The voluntary and intentional relinquishment, without good cause or excuse, of the custody of a minor by a parent, or
3. The voluntary and intentional withholding from the minor by the parent, without good cause or excuse, of his or her presence, care, love, protection, support, maintenance, or display of filial affection.
If you are a stepfather and you have barely seen or heard from the legal father, rest assured that the legal father meets the definition of abandonment.
What Does Abandonment Mean for Adopting Your Child?
To answer that question, we need to visit another doctrine of adoption called implied consent.
If you can show the court clear and convincing evidence that the legal father/mother has abandoned the child, this creates a rebuttable presumption. A rebuttable presumption is an expensive lawyer word, but it’s a helpful tool for analysis. This means that a showing of abandonment predisposes the judge to conclude that there has been implied consent to an adoption. That presumption can be overcome (or “rebutted), but it will take proof from the abandoning parent to overcome that presumption.
4 Rebuttable Presumptions Indicating Implied Consent
1. The adoptee has been abandoned for the 4 months before you file the adoption petition.
2. The legal father fails to offer to the biological mother financial or emotional support during the four months immediately preceding the birth of the adoptee despite knowing or having reason to know of the pregnancy.
3. The legal parent leaves the child & is unidentifiable for a period of 30 days.
4. The legal parent left the adoptee with another person without personally providing support for, initiating communication with, or otherwise maintaining a substantial relationship with the adoptee for the four consecutive months immediately preceding the date of the filing of the petition.
Are You Dealing With Abandonment?
So, consider your own situation and the legal parent’s fulfillment of their duties or lack thereof. Has the legal parent abandoned the child? If so, the case for implied consent and adoption is likely very strong.
Lastly, it’s important to keep in mind that implied consent through abandonment may not be withdrawn. Express or signed consent can be withdrawn under certain circumstances, but not implied consent through abandonment.
What that means is that an abandoning parent’s, last-minute efforts to put up a façade of “parent of the year” will likely come to naught.
Would you like legal aid in navigating the waters of adoption? Call The Adoption Law Firm to schedule a consultation at 334-546-2009.
Want to know more about stepparent adoption? Click here.
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