[dlhall]

Hope you don't mind, but I'm coming over from the Russian forum to ask some questions on my sister's behalf. She has an 11 year old daughter who her husband wants to adopt; there has been no contact with the bio dad for over 8 years (maybe 9). He's only made 1 or 2 support payments ever (and then would quit his job). My sister & her husband have been dragging their feet on adopting my niece because of fear that the bio dad would contest & would cause problems, but tragically my sister has just been diagnosed with a serious case of cancer and now they need to know what to do to get this adoption done in case my sister doesn't survive. So here are my questions:

Typically how long does a step-parent adoption take?
What are the typical costs?
What's the first step?
If anyone knows a lawyer in the Phoenix area they can recommend, please PM me.

Any information you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Liz