In re Adoption of B.M.W.
Supreme Court of Kansas
2 P.3d 159 (Kan. 2000)
After divorcing B.M.W.'s mother and being ordered to pay monthly child support, the natural father consistently fell behind and was held in contempt, with a suspended jail sentence conditioned on future payments; he then made only sporadic payments, but still ended up paying 86% of the child support owed in the two years before the stepfather (plaintiff) filed his adoption petition, even though that compliance was compelled by the contempt order. The family court found the father had failed to provide love and affection but had paid a substantial portion of support, and denied the stepfather's petition on the ground that the father's consent was still required.
Whether a stepfather's adoption petition requires the natural father's consent when the father provided a substantial portion of child support, even without providing love and affection, during the two years preceding the petition.