ANOTHER UTAH ADOPTION FIASCO: JUDGE HOLDS FATHER RESPONSIBLE FOR STATE’S GROSS NEGLIGENCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Distribute Freely Another Utah Adoption Fiasco: Judge holds father responsible for State’s gross negligence. Salt Lake City, Utah (May 25, 2010) – Ramsey Shaud, an unmarried 23-year-old construction worker and waiter from Crestview, Florida, wonders what more he could possibly have done to preserve his rights to his now five-month-old daughter. When Shaud’s girlfriend told him she was pregnant and planned to place the child for adoption, Shaud insisted on having custody, filed in the Florida putative father registry, and offered financial support to the mother. The mother rejected his offers and left for Arizona, and later Utah. Shaud immediately filed in the Arizona putative father registry and contacted Utah attorney Daniel Drage. With Drage’s help, Shaud filed a paternity claim in Utah and a notice in the Utah putative father registry five days before the birth. Utah law requires an unwed father to file the claim and notice before the mother consents to adoption. Shaud’s notice was mailed on January 12, 2010 and marked received by Utah Vital Statistics on January 14. The mother consented to adoption on January 19, and an adoption petition was filed. When notice of the adoption petition did not come to Continue Reading →