How to adopt Fiance's Daughter?

Question

I would like to adopt my fiance's daughter and I was hoping that someone could let me know how, and point me to any helpful websites concerning this issue. We live in Nebraska and we are getting married in February. Also, her daughter doesn't have a father. Thank You so much for any help!

Answer 1

it really depends on what is on her birth certificate and such. My x husband signed my daughter over in a rediculous court battle that lasted two years and finally ended in my favor. As far as i know all i have to do is change the name on her birth certificate for my fiance to adopt her. There are a few websites you can go to and look up adoption lawyers most of them will give you a free consultation or at least give you advice on where to start and what to do. If your fiance has no name down as the baby's father then it shouldnt be too hard to get it changed i think you have to fill out this change of birth certificate paper and it costs a few hundred bucks but dont quote me on it. try calling you local courthouse or wherever it is that you have the vital statistics office at in your county and ask them, they will know what you need to do. and if you are interested in talking to a lawyer to find out what other steps you may need to do to do it the legal way you can google search adoption attorneys and see what it gives you. Good luck and i think its very admirable for you to step up to the plate for her daughter. It only takes sperm to be a father, but it takes a whole lot to be a daddy good luck to you!!

Answer 2

If there is not a father on the birth certificate then it shouldn't be that much of a problem, you need a lawyer to do the paperwork and no less than 2000.00, however if there is a name on the birth certificate and he's just not around then he has to go to court and agree or just not show up and his rights will be signed away..

Answer 3

You will probably be unable to complete the process until after your marriage.  

Also, what do you mean by "she does not have a father"?   Obviously there is/was a father and he is a part of this whether he is currently involved in her life or not.  Without knowing the circumstances, I can not give further insight.

Contact a family law attorney and they will be able to give you more information.  Most offer free consultations.

Answer 4

I was in your same boat.  Ok...first some states won't let you adopt until you've been married for a certain amount of time.  We had to wait until we had been married for one year for my husband to adopt our daughter. You have to then find the birth father, some states will just make you run an ad in the paper, if no one responds then all you do is file the paperwork and she's your's.  But if he crawls out of the wood work and respond then he has to relinquish his rights or he has the right to contest the adoption.  But don't worry.  If he's been absent from here life, and you can prove it then a judge will grant what is in the best interest of the child.  Look up http://www.adoptionsolutions.com/general...  and http://laws.adoption.com/statutes/nebras...  

These are websites of Nebraska adoption laws, hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 5

Well first off the daughter does have a biological father.  It sounds like he isnt involved in her life but her mother should have a general idea of who he is.

From what I can tell from looking over Nebraska Adoption Law, you need to find the father and have him revoke his rights. He can be dissolved of the nessesary consent if he does the following:

Statute: §§ 43-104; 43-105

    * A parent:

          o Has relinquished the child for adoption by written instrument

          o Has abandoned the child for at least 6 months

          o Has had his or her parental rights terminated

          o Is incapable of giving consent

Once his rights are terminated the marriage ceremony and its legal significance should actually give you parental rights to the child. If she is older than 14 she has to consent to it as well.

Ether way you will need a child custody lawyer who will guide you through the process better. If you are nervous about going to court keep in mind that they usually witness deadbeat dads and abandoned children. They will be excited about seeing people as dedicated as you and your fiance.

Best of Luck!

Answer 6

My husband adopted my daughter 8 years ago and she truly loves him. How we did this was went to our lawyers office and he supplied doc to the court and my husband , myself and daughter went before a judge and that was it he adopted her. The fee's are not expensive now days its between 1500.00 and 2,000.00 . Good luck!

Answer 7

most states will require you to put ads in papers and things like that to find the father for so many months up to a couple of years, before the rule the father out of the picture, then you can start the process for adoption. a girl friend of mine was raped by a man that she knew and worked with, when she turned up pregnant she moved away. had the baby, raised the baby, she met someone when the daughter was four and they got married and he wanted to adopt her daughter. in the state of texas she was forced to tell them who the father was and rehash the enitre rape, they found the father , did a dna test. he tried to fight for rights, luckly the judge told him he was an idiot and if he didn't want rape charges to walk away, so he quit fighting her and the terminated his rights there, and the new husband got to adopt the child. but it's a bit of a process and cost them two years in courts and about five thousand dollars. sorry to give you the down side of things. good luck.

Answer 8

Shouldn't be too hard once you get the father to sign the papers relinquishing his rights.  Many judges, even in cases of supposed abandonment want to talk to his other family members to be sure that he actually KNOWS about the child in the first place. If so, then abandonment procedures can go through.  Judges shouldn't be stupid...there are some pretty nasty women out there that deliberately change the facts to fit what they want to have done.

Answer 9

You cannot adopt your stepdaughter, until she is actually your stepdaughter.  Most states will not accept a petition to adopt a stepchild until the parents have been married at least one year, although there are a few states which allow for a six month marriage, either way you do have to be married before you can go forward with a stepparent adoption.

You will either need the biological father to sign over his parental rights, willingly giving up the child, or file for termination on the grounds of abandonment.  The absolute easiest way to get a stepparent adoption done is to have the non-custodial parent consent to the adoption and terminate their parental rights.  This saves so much time, emotional stress, and financial cost.

If the whereabouts of the biological father are unknown, then you will have to prove to the courts that you and your wife have done everything possible to locate the father.  You have contacted old friends and/or family, contacted the last known address of the father, asked the post office for a forwarding address, used 411, or anywho.com as well as social websites such as myspace.com

Once you have proven that you cannot locate the father you can publish a public notice in the paper.  These tend to run an average of 30 days, with an extra week to ten days at the end of the run to wait for a response from the non-custodial parent.  If no response is received than the adoption moves forward as though the non-custdoial parent consented to the adoption.  Some states require a homestudy, but it is waived in most cases since the stepparent has been living with the child already.  A lawyer can let you know about local laws (they vary not only from state to state, but county to county) and most give a free initial consultation.

Make sure to get extra copies of your marriage license, as you will need them to complete the stepparent adoption, along with a copy of everyone's birth certificate, yours your stepdaughter's and your wife's.  

Good luck on your stepparent adoption,the time frame might be a little longer than you anticipated, but it can still be done!

The site below is all about stepparent adoption, hope that helps!

Answer 10

good luck!