What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA
My wife and I have been married now for almost 5 years. She has a son who is ten years old and lives with us. His father has never seen him and rarely pays child support. He recently contacted us to tell us that he wants to sign over his parental rights. In order to do this, Domestic Relations told us that I would need to adopt my stepson in order for the courts to approve the termination of rights from his father. This is perfect considering I have been wanting to adopt him for quite some time now, but we could not locate his father since he has been moving frequently from state to state to avoid payign child support. Can anyone tell me the process to do this and approximately how much it will cost? We were hoping to avoid using an attorney if that is even possible.
My wife and I have been married now for almost 5 years. She has a son who is ten years old and lives with us. His father has never seen him and rarely pays child support. He recently contacted us to tell us that he wants to sign over his parental rights. In order to do this, Domestic Relations told us that I would need to adopt my stepson in order for the courts to approve the termination of rights from his father. This is perfect considering I have been wanting to adopt him for quite some time now, but we could not locate his father since he has been moving frequently from state to state to avoid payign child support. Can anyone tell me the process to do this and approximately how much it will cost? We were hoping to avoid using an attorney if that is even possible.