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11-20-2008, 10:40 AM
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 1
| | | How is the best way to adopt a Stepchild
My husband very much would like to adopt my Twelve year old daughter. I am wondering if it is best to go through an attorney or is it possible to file with the court on your own.  |
11-20-2008, 10:54 AM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 11,206
| | | Why didn't you post your state?
__________________ Quote:
It almost never fails: OP asks for advice, gets the unvarnished truth from Ohiogal, OP gets in a snit and claims all the trouble has suddenly disappeared and the sun is shining once again.
This is a scientific phenomenon, and it should be called The OG Factor.
| ~CLT747~
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11-20-2008, 10:55 AM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: The Heart o' Dixie
Posts: 1,807
| | | You will need the services of an attorney. Paternity will have to be established for Dad (if it's not already established) and he will have to approve of a TPR for this to work. If Dad is deceased, things will be a little different.
__________________ Actions have consequences. Remember Newton's Third Law of Motion in everything you do.  |
12-08-2008, 02:04 PM
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 2
| | | step parent adoption
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbilyeu2  My husband very much would like to adopt my Twelve year old daughter. I am wondering if it is best to go through an attorney or is it possible to file with the court on your own. | I am going through the same situation right now. My husband wants to adopt my son. After contacting expensive attorneys, I called my county probate court and found that we can do this adoption process on our own. However, you have to know the names of the forms you need, which can easily be found online. |
12-08-2008, 02:07 PM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: CO
Posts: 13,127
| | |
__________________
"Judges want people to be reasonable. Where one parent won't be reasonable, judges still want the other parent to remain reasonable." Ford, at The Other Place |
12-09-2008, 09:43 PM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,561
| | | The first step no matter what state you live in is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, an attorney.
this is one situation where, in the end it might be possible to do the final work without a lawyer but ONLY a lawyer can tell you that.
If you screw up one little thing, you can end up with a FRAUDULENT adoption.
Some things are worth thier price in gold, and adoption is one of them.
Get a consult with a family law attorney first.
__________________
"It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men." Frederick Douglas
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12-09-2008, 10:31 PM
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 19
| | | Me and my husband are going through the step parent adoption process as we speak. It was easy for me though because we were all in agreement, we just signed the official papers today. You need an attorney though but you can download the paper work on line as mentioned in the other posts. It gets costly when there is someone who is unwilling to sign papers, depending on how long you have been married and the state laws you may have to have a home study done and that costs money as well. I was lucky enough that my husband and I have been married for over five years so we did not hve to have a home study done, we live in NC. Best of luck! |
12-10-2008, 09:57 AM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 21,751
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by enjmabe Me and my husband are going through the step parent adoption process as we speak. It was easy for me though because we were all in agreement, we just signed the official papers today. You need an attorney though but you can download the paper work on line as mentioned in the other posts. It gets costly when there is someone who is unwilling to sign papers, depending on how long you have been married and the state laws you may have to have a home study done and that costs money as well. I was lucky enough that my husband and I have been married for over five years so we did not hve to have a home study done, we live in NC. Best of luck! | YOU MIGHT be able to download the papers. NOT all courts have the documentation online that is necessary. And local rules may require different forms. Please do not state that someone can do things when you don't even know what state they are in and are not familiar with the local courts.
__________________
Parents should remember two things: Love your kids more than you hate your ex (or soon to be ex) and when you have children the relationship with the other parent is until death parts you.
Nothing stated by me should be taken as giving you legal advice or forming an attorney/client relationship. My advice is based on the law and not deemed to necessarily apply to the specifics of your case. The devil is in the details after all. |
12-10-2008, 09:59 AM
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,672
| | | Allow me to echo that adoption is not a DIY project.
Nothing in your life will be as important as making sure this is done correctly.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by jdslilangel Just leave it as is and stop making yourselves sound real stupid about the sisutation at hand. Further more I don't need to know how to spell corcetly on here. I know how to spell perfectly fine. I did graduate high school and never once had any problems with my grammer. | |
12-10-2008, 10:37 AM
| | Member | | Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 83
| | Quote:
Originally Posted by enjmabe I was lucky enough that my husband and I have been married for over five years so we did not hve to have a home study done, we live in NC. Best of luck! | Not all states allow this. My husband and I were married for 7 years before he adopted our son.
The best thing to do, is to contact a lawyer. Every state, every rule is different. | |
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