I don't know where to start!

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Maryland


I want to adopt my wife's son. We've been married for a year and we've been together since 2002. Mcleod (her son) is 5. His biological father doesn't want anything to do with him. He's already signed over his rights. We went to the courthouse to try to find out how to get the adoption process started but the clerk was not very helpful. She basically told us that we'd have to go through a lawyer. I'm in the Navy and have only been in for about five months so I don't make very much money right now so a lawyer isn't much of an option. Any advice or guidance that can be given will be greatly appreciated.

Go to the base JAG office and request assistance from them. I don't know all that they will be able to help you do but I do know that they will be able to give you some guidance.

Also, all branches of the military will reimburse a portion of the cost of any adoption. You can ask your base JAG office about this.

Your base Family Advocacy Office is a good place to check also. Talk to both organizations and you will find some sort of help.

Jag

Jag is going to be of little or no help at all. The one thing they are going to tell you is that it's a civil matter and has to be handled out in town.

Go to your local child welfare office, DHSH, or DCF office and ask about step parent adoption. They are going to tell you that they don't handle that but they will be ale to give you a list of lawyers (low cost) that may be able to help and work with you financially. These are going to be the same lawyers they use also.

I hope this helps and Good Luck.

They are going to tell you that they don't handle that but they will be ale to give you a list of lawyers (low cost) that may be able to help and work with you financially.

JAG can give you the same list AND all pertinant info as far as what needs to be done once the adoption is made legal...such as what needs to be filed to recover part of the expense of the adoption.

I have an adopted son, my ex is a military officer and 13 years ago when we were going through the process JAG was extremely helpful to us. Granted they won't represent you but they will give you advice as far as how to properly get it done in a civilian court.

I just spoke with a friend of mine who lives in Jefferson County, Maryland. She did the stepparent adoption a couple of years ago. Her husband is military and she said the JAG office has a packet they gave her and her husband that gave instructions on how to get it done through the civilian courts.

She said it was step by step instructions and that they ended up only paying a $90 filing fee to get the paperwork processed and ended up not having to use an attorney. They did it all on their own! The only requirement was that they had been married at least one year and the father had legally signed over his rights. Sounds as if you have that part taken care of.

Good luck!

Jag

I did the process last year and JAG sucked. They only work for officers. Give them a try first and then move on to DCF,DHS,DHSH or whatever the agency is called in your state.

I am currently active duty in the Navy and these were my experiences. You've only been in five months you'll learn soon enough how things really work.

thank you

Thank you guys for the help. Actually, the day after I posted, we were able to get a packet from someone else in the courthouse. We just filed today so hopefully we'll here something back next week. We did try the JAG office first up here in maryland and they said they didn't deal with adoptions. But if this doesn't go through then I'm going to try them again and talk to someone else. Thank you guys again for the help.