Could his ex-wifes new husband legally adopt their son since the father is deployed overseas?
Assuming that your fiancé is maintaining some contact with their son and is providing reasonable financial support for him, the short answer is that after the marriage the mother’s new husband could probably not legally adopt the child. In West Virginia, where I practice, a step-parent adoption is possible in one of only three circumstances: 1) The servicemember-parent’s parental rights have been terminated in a child abuse and neglect proceeding; 2) The servicemember-parent voluntarily relinquishes his parental rights and consents to the step-parent adoption; or 3) The servicemember-parent is proven to have abandoned the child in a contested adoption proceeding. In your fiancé’s situation, scenarios 1 and 2 seem very unlikely. “Abandonment” is a legal term of art and is somewhat difficult to prove in West Virginia. Generally, it is a conduct by a parent that demonstrates a settled purpose to forego all duties and relinquish all parental claims to the child. In West Virginia, a parent
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