[CrazyForMark]

I'm confused as far as what you do when. I was told that in Riverside I pay 20.00 for court fee and 200.00 for investigation. Do I pay that at the same time? Also I don't know where b/f is for daughter. I know where his father lives and that is last known address, I called them and they dont know where he is. I left on there answering machine that we are looking into adoption and that he should contact me but he didnt and neither did anybody else in that family. How do I handle that? When do I put the notice in the paper? before I pay for court fee or after? Do I pay the court fee and till her to give me court hearing way down the road? How much does it usually cost to put in the paper? I am probably going to be purchasing the book on this to maybe help me because the order in which I'm supposed to do this is still very unclear to me.

[Kallen330]

I'm in San Diego so it may be done a little differently there but this is the order in which I did those operations.

The petition to terminate parental rights and the petition to adopt are filed at the same time and the 20.00 is paid then.

The 200.00 for the investigation is paid when you go in for the investigation. That check is made out to the Department of Social Services or Probation, whichever agency that does it.

If you need to do a service by publication you ususally need court approval for that. You need special paperwork and if there are fees you pay them when you file that paperwork.

After you file, I would suggest you have paperwork served to the last known address and possibly any family member he may have regular contact with. If these are unsuccessful this will show that you made a dilligent effort to find this person and you are more likely to have the service by publication approved and stick in court.

They usually make your first court date 70 days out in order to serve the other person. They also do the investigation during that time as well.

You will be working with two different agencies. The court and the Departement of Social Services or Probation. Whichever does the reports in your area. You will need to contact that other agency seperately. Remember to make lots of copies of your paperwork. The termination summons in particular, especially if you have to have it served all over town.

I hope this helps.

[CrazyForMark]

Thank you so much for your response. I am going to contact the newspapers, they might have know how much it will cost me. We might start this in January maybe.

[Kallen330]

There is usually a special paper, a localized paper that specifically puts out these type of ads. In San Diego one of them is the Daily Transcript. They're usually a lot cheaper than a big paper like the LA Times or Tribune.

Good Luck!