Step-parent adoption?

mrsrose16

Has anyone been through this? DH and I will be married 2 yrs in a couple of weeks (together 10) and can now start the adoption. The biological father has never been involved or around. If you have been through this, what can I expect? Thanks!

taagent

I haven't gone through this, and BM said if anything ever happened to her I was never to adopt SD. That being said, you might want to go onto the Adoption board or your local board especially since even if I had gone through it I live in SC and the laws here don't apply (obviously). 

I would think however that the BF would have to give up his rights...not sure how that works though.

MrsHeidiR

In my state (which may or may not apply to all states) if you can locate the Bio father you must inform him and get his consent.  If you do not know where he is, you have to be able to prove that you made adequate effort to locate him (i.e. public notices where you last knew he lived etc.) 

Courts generally do not like to transfer parental rights unless the biological parent has been informed and consented.  However, there is often an "abandonment" clause that would allow you to do this if he has not been in any contact whatsoever for an extended period of time.  Your best bet is to contact an attorney in your state so you are careful about understanding and following the laws. 

hindsight's_a_biotch

H will be adopting pete eventually. A lawyer told us that since pete's bf has not so much as seen him or paid support, all I have to do is put a couple public notices in the paper and the judge would allow the adoption. He said even if bf were to come forward, the judge would demand a reasonable explanation for allowing nearly 7 years to pass without contact or support and if he could not give one, he would still process the adoption.

Definately contact a lawyer.

MrsAK2RI

I just posted about this above, I suppose I should have read down a bit. We have just started this process. I highly recommend you speak with a lawyer. My son's BioFather has had no contact, but made it clear he would "not allow" my husband to adopt, but my lawyer feels we have a pretty good case for abandonment, in some states it's as little as 6 months without contact, but in most it's a year. Our lawyer is filing a petition to adopt on my husbands behalf, we will probably have to take out a public notice in the local paper where ex lives (I have no current address) ex has not paid child support in over a year, had contact in over 4, it becomes a case of whats in the best intrest of the child. We will probably have to go to trial, but our lawyer felt even at that we have ground to adopt without ex's consent.

Just FYI we found our lawyer by contacting the state adoption orginization and asking them to recomend a family lawyer, they gave us a list and I went to the state bar website and contacted a couple before we made our choice.