What if the other parent won't sign consent in Wisconsin?

Don't worry — this is the most common scenario, and the adoption can still proceed.

In Wisconsin, if the biological parent has had no meaningful contact with the child for 12 months or more, the court may consider this abandonment under Wis. Stat. § 48.415. This is extremely common — over 80% of the 34,000+ adoptions we've helped complete were finalized without the other parent's consent.

Important: "Token contact" like an occasional phone call or one brief visit does NOT count as meaningful contact. And paying child support does NOT negate abandonment — abandonment is about the relationship with the child, not financial obligations. The termination of parental rights can be handled within the same adoption proceeding.

If the other parent actively refuses consent AND has been involved in the child's life, the process is more complex but still possible. This would be a contested adoption, and we recommend consulting with a Wisconsin family law attorney in addition to using our document service.

But in our experience, the vast majority of cases where a parent "won't sign" fall into the abandonment category — they've been absent and simply aren't cooperating. The court handles this routinely.