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Step-Parents wanting to Adopt step-children

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LilCountry

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

My husband and I have known each other for over 8 years and coming up in Oct. we will have been married for a year. We came from broken families and he has a 2 1/2 year old son and I have a 2 year old daughter. We love our kids very much and think of them as our own.

The biological mother to his son took off the week of Easter of 2007, showed up in Oct 2007 and only saw the child for 15 min. After that we haven't heard anything from her. She does not pay child support, help with medical bills, and in Oct. stated to us that she did not want the motherly role to their son, just call her Auntie whenever she comes around.Wehave not seen nor heard from her since Oct 27th. During this time their son has grown to me and started to call me Mommy. He had nothing to do with his biological mother. We have tried to contact her about letting me adopt their son due to the best interest of the child but she never responed to the letters.

Same with my daughter. My husband has helped me raise her since she was 6 months old. She has only seen her biological father 3 times her whole life. (when she was 5 month, 6 months, and 9 months and it was only for a few hours) He had told me yes that he would sign over his rights in court to the judge at a custody hearing, but later that month told me no because it would look bad on him giving up rights to one and might lose his 1st daughter from his previous realtioship. He is supposed to pay child support, but some months i might get 30 dollars and sometimes (hardly Never) I might get over a hundred, if not any at all... He is in Jail right now for back child support for his other daughter, but is facing jail time for my daughter as well.

So now that you have heard the story, do we have a good chance of getting the legal right taken away? We are not to be mean, but we raise our kids as our own, we only want what is best for the kids. Don't want people coming in and out whenever they might have time to see them and hurt them. The kids don't know the biological parents which is really sad, but they only look at them as strangers. In Both cases we are the SOLE legal and physical custody to our own kids, but we only want to make things legal and to protect our kids from getting hurt... Also, in case something was to happen to us we want to know that the kids will be able to stay with each other and the family that they know. We have total 3 kids (mine, his, and ours) but love each and every one of them asif they are our own.

Thanks!
Lil Country
 
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LilCountry

Junior Member
Do you think that WE have a good case?

I am only asking is because I have talked to a few lawyers around here and they believe that we do. Just looking for others input! Thanks.
 

Farfalla

Member
You have two cases... handle them as separate cases.

Can you get your husband's child's mother to sign away her rights? If you can that would settle one of the cases.

As for if you take away the parental rights of the two....I've seen it happen in similar situations in my famliy.

If you have interviewed more than one attorney, and they have all told you that you have a case... than you most likely do. They are the ones who know the local laws and courts.
 

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