child adoption

[mowen050]

first of all for starters let me say that i am with a girl i love more than anything in the world. She has a son that is the best boy I have ever seen, however I have been helping raise him since he was one and a half months. His father wants to give up his rights as his father, and i want to adopt him. he is willing to sign the rights over and here me and her have a nice apartment and us and his family help us take care of him. do I have to get a lawyer for this, or can i represent myself, as well does the father have to go to the courts as well, or can we just show up their and give our case. I want to take full responsibility of him, in every way i can. I do realize if me and the mother would break up i would be responsible for paying child support and that is fine with me. I want to marry the mother and we also our expecting. I know i asked a lot of questions however if i can get some feedback it will be very useful. thank you very much, Charles

 

[irish223]

Generally, courts allow termination of parental rights only when a step-parent is willing to adopt. In addition, it is often required that the parent and step-parent be married for a certain amount of time. The amount of time varies among the states, but 1 year is typical.

There are exceptions, so you should consult a lawyer.

 

[Duranie]

Since you are not married, likely cannot happen. Once you get married see about seeing an attorney to help with the paperwork. It is going to cost some money but if Dad is in agreement with this and it is uncontested, perhaps it will not cost that much.