Can my daughter's fiance adopt her child as the father?

Question

My grandaughter's biological father has never been in the picture. He's never even seen her, by choice. He's not on the birth certificate even . My daughter' fiance is a wonderful man who's help raise my grandaughter as his own for the 3 of her 4 years. He is her daddy. My daughter and he have a baby son together, and really want to make it legal. Can he just sign the birth certificate?

Answer 1

My biological father is not in the picture and I was adopted by my mom's husband when I was 8.  I obviously was to young to know about the process...but i do know that there is more to it than just having him sign the birth certificate.  I'm pretty sure that the biological father has to give some kind of consent.  Good luck!!

Answer 2

he should be able to. with no father on the birth certificate and there is no reason why your granddaughters husband can not adopt

Answer 3

First, to make things legal, they should get married, for both children's sakes. Then they need to speak to an attorney that can get things in order for them. It shouldn't be real expensive nor should it take too long for it to happen. Kudos to your future son-in-law for his loving behavior and for wanting to do this. Good luck to them.

Answer 4

No he can't just sign the certificate. That can open up a huge legal can of worms should her biological father decide to reappear at any point. You also have to tell your granddaughter the truth about her parentage. They will have to go through with a termaination (either voluntary or court sanctioned) of dads parental rights and the fiancee will have to formally adopt her.

Not notifying the dad would overturn things anyway. Dad can decide to reenter the picture down the line and say that he was never notified that she was his etc. It's best for all involved to terminate the rights and erase that possibilty.

Answer 5

I think he has an ethical responsibility to follow the law and go through the process of adoption.

Also, your title question is confusing... I couldn't figure out why your daughter wanted your grandchild as your daughter's father.

Answer 6

i was going to do this too ahd they have to get married first then go to a lawyer and go from there. but the first thing is being married. it cost a thousand dollars if i remember correctly. and the father may have to sign over rights, but under the circumstances they may be able to find a way around that. and if not the way it sounds he just may with no problem. they won't let him adopt untill married though.

Answer 7

It depends on your state but the most common steps include a "search for putative father", showing that he can't be found OR once found, having him signing a waiver and consent form ( aka termination of parental rights ), followed by a joint petition for step parent adoption.

Most state's will have whats known as a self help legal page that has all of the forms and steps layed out for the procedure. Google (your state) self help court forms. If you can't find anything that way call your local county clerks office and ask if they can direct you to the web page. If your state doesn't have one you will have to go to the court house to get them.

If your son-in-law ( to be) signs the birth certificate and the putative father shows up  on the scene later in life ( for whatever reason ) there will be some ugly legal repercussions.

Answer 8

If the former has made no parental claim, they should have no trouble.

Best of luck and happiness to them both.

Answer 9

To avoid any future problems,  get the BIOLOGICAL FATHER to sign off his parential rights to the child and give permisson to your daughter's fiance to adopt her.   If you don't have SOMETHING in writing, the courts will have a more difficult time accepting the situation  (it will hold up the adoption)... WITH the papers giving permission to adopt from the biological, there will be NO problems and the adoption should go through smoothly...my father tried to adopt HIS wife's daughter a few years after they were married but the biological father (the stepmother's first husband) refused to sign over his parential rights and the adoption could never take place... what happened however is that when my step sister turned 18,  she went and LEGALLY changed her name to my dad's last name....(since he raised her since she was 4 years old).

Answer 10

Not sure they might question the fact it wasn't done sooner but if it's allowed that's really great.Cause not many guys would do such a thing in this day & age..Good Luck

Answer 11

I think you need to go through an acctual addoption process through the courts and have official adoption papers drawn up. but that should not be difficult as the biolgical father has never been in the picture and is not on the birth certificate.

Answer 12

No.  It is not legal or ethical.  She needs to know who her birthfather is, warts and all.

He can adopt her, but it takes money.  The birthfather's rights would have to be terminated in court ($1000-2000) and then he would have to formally adopt her ($1000-2000).  Some states also require that he gets an adoption homestudy ($400-900).

And, sorry, but who is to say her fiance will become her husband?  For the child's sake, they would need to be married for two years, just like an adoptive couple, to be considered stable.  

Call the paralegal for an adoption attorney in your area, and ask the particulars for your state.

Good luck!