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We had a contested adoption. Same kind of situation as yours. We live in Indiana and state laws are different everywhere, and I don't know New York's laws. In Indiana, a man has 30 days from the date the intent to adopt papers are filed to register with the putative father registry. On the 25th day we got a cal that a man had come forward claiming to be the father and he was contesting the adoption. He had hired a lawyer and everything. We had 2 different lawyers tell us if the DNA proved he was the father (which we hadn't got to yet) there would be nothing we could do. I then got online and found Indiana's adoption laws and read every last word over and over again. I then printed off the statute that says he has 30 days to register and if he doesn't he has no rights to contest the adoption. Well, in our situation, the man got a lawyer, but never registered. So, I sent those laws and a very long letter to my lawyer who in turn took it to the judge and he threw the case out of court before we ever got to DNA testing. This took about 3 months to get it all over and done. So, my best advice would be to research your laws and go over them with a fine tooth comb. If the law says he has to register and he didn't, then I'd keep looking for a lawyer until I found one that would help me.
Good luck!! Feel free to pm me if you have questions or if I can help. Your family will be in my prayers.
Kim
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