How long a father has to be out of a child's life to be an abandoned parent in New York State?

Answer 1

I believe the standard throughout the entire nation is 5 to 7 years with NO contact whatsoever. However the courts have a LOT of leeway on that and can declare a family to be abandoned after only a few months, especially if there is NO child support given and NO contact whatsoever AND there is a history of physical or sexual abuse by the parent upon the child. Also if the parent has left the State or Country and left NO forwarding address and has made NO attempt at contact the prent can be considered as having abandoned the family, especially if the parent is a non-citizen of the U.S..

BB,
Raji the Green Witch