Removal of parental rights

[dizzylizzy]

What is the name of your state? TX
My ex husband has not had a relationship or seen my two girls in two years. He is also 12,000 dollars behind on child support. He was recently picked up and put in jail for an unkown amount of time. I think he will willingly sighn over his rights to my children because he just gave up his son that he had custody of. He is also a meth addict and manufacturer (although he has not yet been caught by authorities in this matter) and is a danger to the children. My husband wants to adopt the girls, but is currantly deployed and money is tight. Do I have to have an attorney for this? I mean...I just need the paperwork for my ex to sign. If the adoption needs to take place later...that is fine.

[brisgirl825]

Yes, you absolutely need a lawyer. If something is not done correctly, it will give your ex cause to have the adoption overturned. Contact your state bar association, see if you have any sliding scale legal services in your state, and JAG may even be able to help. If I am wrong on military possible helping, I'm sure that another poster will bring that to your attention.

Usually TPR and SP Adoption is done all at once. So you need to wait until your husband comes back to have it done. If your ex is in jail, his situation is not likely to change before your husband returns. That will also give you some time to save up money.

We are going through this right now as well and it is costing us $1,250 for the tpr and adoption. This includes paperwork, court time, court/filing fees, and GAL services.

You can go to atty's that give free consultations. We did that in order to find the best priced atty. When you go, they will make sure that you qualify for adoption. They'll want to know that you're a resident of the state and have been married long enough etc.

GL.

[listed3]

I just did this on my own without an attorney. Truth be told I *am* an attorney, but not one with any expertise in this field of law. In my state, all the forms and instructions you need were nicely laid out on the state's web sites. Try googling "Texas Stepparent Adoption" or something like that and see what you can find.

I do think it's possible for a fairly educated person to do this on their own without a lawyer. Again, however, I guess its not fair for me to judge since I am an attorney myself.