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Adoption of adult stepchild

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celt03

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Washington

My grown, single daughter in her 20's wants to be adopted by my husband who has raised her from age 3.
My ex would not give permission when she was younger - even though he did not pay the court-ordered support & made no attempt to ever visit. My ex has now passed away & my daughter is in her early 20's.

Every attorney we have contacted says that we should just file for a name change since she is now an adult & they don't want to deal with an adult adoption. But a name change is not the outcome that my daughter & husband want. They want his name to be legally listed as her father. I am stuck because I cannot find any attorneys within our area willing to take this on.

HOW do we go about doing this & is it possible to do without an attorny since none in our area want to deal with it? And if it is possible to petition the court ourselves - where would we find the info telling us how to go about it? Please help us.
 
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nextwife

Senior Member
While I would not normally recommend trying to do adoption as a DIY, in this case, there isn't much chance of a later complication. Father is deceased, there are no potential custody or child support issues. WE did our daughter's readoption ourselves (following her adoption in her birrh country) using a simple package provided by children's court. Check with your children's court and see if they have something similar.

I am certain that there would be an attorney who would handle this for you, however. Try clicking on the "Find an Attorney" link on the top of the page.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
While I would not normally recommend trying to do adoption as a DIY, in this case, there isn't much chance of a later complication. Father is deceased, there are no potential custody or child support issues. WE did our daughter's readoption ourselves (following her adoption in her birrh country) using a simple package provided by children's court. Check with your children's court and see if they have something similar.

I am certain that there would be an attorney who would handle this for you, however. Try clicking on the "Find an Attorney" link on the top of the page.
Adult adoptions are not complicated. I don't know why you can't find an attorney who is willing to put the paperwork through.
 

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