adoption of step-daughter

[zierra26 0]

we are in the process of K2 for my daughter and my USC husband will adopt her after my minor daughter AOS.The case is:

1. In her birth certificate, the biological father acknowledged her.

2. Me and the biological father are not married

3. My daughter have not seen his father and doesn't know his father because he never see/visit her.

( in Philippine law, I have the full custody for my daughter since we are not married.)

4. We also wanted to just do the adoption ourselves cos hiring an attorney will be cost us way more..

5. Where do we have to start first or what to do first?

6. Do I have to ask her father to give up his right, (I do not know where he is right now.).. All I know is that he is already a married man.

Has someone in the same situation?

Thank you very much.

[RandR333 9]

We just started going through the same thing.

We are in Ohio, so it may be a little different for you.

Contact the Probate court for your area and ask them or they probably have the info online too.

You don't need anything from the father. The law already gives you custody.

It is fairly hard to do it yourself, at least in Ohio. So we have contacted some lawyers and checked the fees. Good God - it's very expensive to do something as good-hearted as adoption.

We are thinking of just doing a name change, at least for the time being. That way our son has the same last name as us and that is what is important to him right now.

Good luck.

[zierra26 0]

We just started going through the same thing.

We are in Ohio, so it may be a little different for you.

Contact the Probate court for your area and ask them or they probably have the info online too.

You don't need anything from the father. The law already gives you custody.

It is fairly hard to do it yourself, at least in Ohio. So we have contacted some lawyers and checked the fees. Good God - it's very expensive to do something as good-hearted as adoption.

We are thinking of just doing a name change, at least for the time being. That way our son has the same last name as us and that is what is important to him right now.

Good luck.

Thank you for the reply,

Can you please share some of your experiences to us so that we may also know what to do..

I have read a story here that they went through adoption without getting a lawyer.

We are also thinking of the name change for my daughter , we wanted her to use the same last name as us.

[RandR333 9]

We don't have much more experience to add. You can try Catholic Charities for a cheaper lawyer. I think they have lawyers for about $500 for adoption. They might be able to save you on some fees, like the expensive home visits/evaluation which I don't think are always required. But then again, we are in Ohio, so it's going to be different.

Just call/visit your county probate court and find out what you have to do. Contact Catholic Charites in your area and ask them about adoption. Email a few lawyers in your area and ask about their fees.

We haven't had time to start the name change yet. We will probably wait until summer when we aren't so busy.