Anne E. Raduns, PA Assists Unmarried Fathers in Contested Adoption Cases

OCALA, FL, October 04, 2010

Having represented many Biological Fathers in contested Adoption cases, this case out of the Ohio Supreme Court is a real "win" for umarried biological fathers. The war on fathers' rights in adoption proceedings continues and fathers are starting to become more victorious in the legal battles that ensue, like the one described in Toledo Blade. Also see my blog post on Helping Biological Father's Get His Child Back at http://www.ocaladivorcehelp.com.

Benjamin Wyrembek had a brief affair with a married woman. She became pregnant in 2007 and, along with her husband, decided to place the child for adoption. Wyrembek had no way of knowing if the child was his or not and possibly neither did the woman, although neither the article nor the opinion says. But he timely filed his claim of paternity with the Ohio Putative Father Registry and brought suit in juvenile court in December, 2007 to establish paternity. In January, 2008, the adoptive parents, Jason and Christy Vaughn, filed their suit to adopt the child.

Genetic testing determined that the child is Wyrembek's and every court has since ruled in his favor. Basically, he's the biological father who's done every legal thing in his power to get custody of his son and every court has ruled that the adoption can't go forward. But the litigation remains and the process is stalled by the court system. On September 28, 2010, the prospective adoptive parents were ordered to turn the child back over to Benjamin Wyrembek, but the prospective adoptive parents' attorney filed another plethora of motions, stymieing the process again. So adoption attorneys believe that stalling is, if not right, at least effective. Their credo is "if you keep father and child separated long enough, maybe the adoption will happen."

Now courts in Ohio and many other states are starting to take the rights of biological fathers far more seriously than ever before. The narrow ruling in the Ohio case is that a biological father has one year from the time his paternity is established to file suit to stop the adoption of his child. That means that mothers can no longer hide a child or a child's paternity from a father and deprive him of his parental rights through the adoption. A father's rights can't be diminished or terminated until he knows he's the dad; once he does, he's got a year in which to act.

If you are an unmarried father faced with a contested adoption issue, please call Ocala Divorce and Family Law attorney at the Law Office of Anne E. Raduns, PA to find out how we can help. We employ a client based approach, which means that we are selective in the cases we take so that we can be available to our clients. We spend time with you to thoroughly understand the facts of your case, so that we can provide you with a comprehensive and realistic legal evaluation. Our process begins with a half-hour low-cost consultation, all of which is credited back to your account if we accept your case.

The Ocala divorce attorneys of Anne E. Raduns, P.A. are committed to providing aggressive yet sensitive legal
representation for the clients they serve in family law matters, including DIvorce, Paternity, Child Support,
Father's Rights and the Rights of Unmarried Parents.