Nesiba v. Taylor

GODFREY, Justice.

On June 19,1979, Bobbie and Ella Nesiba filed in Probate Court petitions to adopt Mrs. Nesiba’s two children from her former marriage to Toby Taylor and to have the children’s surnames changed from Taylor to Nesiba. Besides alleging their own abilities to care for the children, the Nesibas claimed that Toby Taylor, the children’s natural father, had not “seen, communicated with, or supported said [children] over the past several years.”

When the Nesibas filed their petitions, the necessity for obtaining the natural1 parent’s consent to adoption was controlled by 19 M.R.S.A. §…