How do my husband and I give up our parental rights and force our child’s guardians to adopt?

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How do my husband and I give up our parental rights and force our child’s guardians to adopt?

My husband and I had a baby 5 years ago. His parents legally kidnapped her and have had guardianship since. We want to terminate our rights to her because we don’t see her and we want to give her a normal life. She needs to have “parents” as a constant. They are hesitant on adoption because they receive TANF and if they adopt then they will not get the money. Is there anything we can do to force them to adopt her?

Asked on April 25, 2011 under Family Law, New Hampshire

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

You need advice of an attorney with family law and/or adoption law experience; this is a complex situation to begin with, and something does not seem "right" from what your write. For example, no one can "legally kidnap" someone. If parents are unfit, it is possible that the legal system may give a child's care to someone else (e.g. a foster parent; a relative), but that's with essentially a court determination; there is no way that his parents could have taken the child w/out a court order and without your consent.

Also, there is no way to force anyone to adopt a child. It may be possible to terminate your parental rights, though that is doubtful without either someone else who chooses to adopt or, again, some court determination of unfitness.

You need expert legal help to sort this situation out. If you can't afford an attorney, try Legal Services; they may be able to help you or refer you to an agency which can. But don't try to resolve this on your own.


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