Has anyone gone through the adoption process in Indiana recently?

Question

I live in Hamilton County and my husband wants to adopt my son who is going to be 9 this November. His "father" has not been in his life since he was 2. Although I have prepaid legal (yay!) I was just curious about the process so I am not surprised. Thanks for the help :o)

Answer 1

I believe the father has to be willing to let someone else adopt them. Then you need to all go to court. If he pays child support, then all that will stop. He will no longer be legally responsible for him...doesn't sound like he was anyway!!! I live In St. Joseph county Indiana.

Answer 2

I believe (in many states, not sure about Indiana) that after a certain amount of time without visitation or monetary support he can be stripped of his parental rights.  If it's different and he still has to sign, you may just have to have him sign away his parental rights.  

Good luck!

Answer 3

even if he has not been involved he would still have to sign away his rights or a judge can terminate them during a hearing if it comes to that.

i adopted my son in Tippecanoe county 6 years ago and even though the guy who claimed to be the father wasn't on the birth certificate, never mind the fact that this guy was in  prison for armed robbery, we STILL had to go in front of a judge and have his rights terminated --- however, he was fighting us on the adoption and held it up for over a year

i would venture to say that if he's not been involved for the last 5 years you shouldn't have a problem

just a little of what i know...hope it helps some

Answer 4

i was in custody of indiana department of corrections(prison)

Answer 5

I went through this same process last year in Indiana.  

It was relatively simple.  We hired a lawyer (cost was 900.00 total), he had the birth father sign over his rights and filed with the courts.  We had a home study where a case worker came to the home to review our living conditions, finances, health, stability, etc.  This lasted an hour or less and was rather painless.  Then we went to court.  That wasn't too bad.  The judge just asked my husband if he understood that this was permanent and he was financially responsible from now on... etc.  And that was that.

We filed in March or April and it was all finalized by late July.  A lot of waiting really.

Good luck!

Answer 6

nope