Ohio Courts Rule On Adoption Case Involving Consent And Child Support
On February 26, 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court came out with the decision, In re Adoption of A.C.B., Slip Opinion No. 2020-Ohio-629, where the Court held a non-custodial parent’s consent to the adoption of his child is not required when the parent failed, without justifiable cause, to comply with the child support obligations of a judicial decree.
What happened in the case with child support?
A.C.B.’s parents’ settlement (separation) agreement awarded sole custody to A.C.B.’s mother and ordered the father to pay $85 per week in child support. After leaving the United States to return to Kosovo, the father made sporadic child-support payments that diminished over time.
Two years later, A.C.B.’s mother reached out to the father, asking for his consent for her new husband (“stepfather”) to adopt A.C.B., but the father refused. A couple years later, the stepfather filed a petition to adopt A.C.B., arguing that the father’s consent was not required because the father failed to provide support as required by the judicial decree for the year prior to adoption petition.
The probate court held a hearing where it determined that the father … Read More... “LEGAL ALERT: Can your failure to pay child support impact your right to withhold consent for the adoption of your child in Ohio?”