I am a single father of three amazing kids. I am recently divorced. My oldest daughter is my ex-wife's daughter from a previous relationship. She is twelve years old, and I adopted her before my ex-wife and I got married. I have joint custody of all three of our children. I am involved in all aspects of their lives. I just found out that my ex-wife told my oldest daughter that I am not her biological father (without discussing it with me or allowing me to be apart of the discussion). She has also contacted her biological father and they have decided that he needs to be a part of her life.

Of course, I want what is best for my daughter first and for most and have asked that my ex wife and I discuss this further with a counselor. She has more or less balked at this idea, but said maybe. My question is what legal right do I have or maybe better stated what legal right does that biological father have to just show up and be apart of her life? Again, I want to make this very clear, I am not entirely opposed to my daughter having a relationship with her biological father, but I want to understand what legal rights I have.

I am also happy to discuss this with a lawyer in private, but the only reason I have not contacted one is that I have been divorced for just over two years now, and I have had to pay numerous legal bills resulting from my ex-wife, including recently when she went to the AG office claiming I was not paying child support when in reality I overpaid her. So I am soliciting any free advice knowing that I probably need to talk to a lawyer.

Thank you kindly in advance for your thoughts and advice.