[MiddleRiver]

I wasn't sure where to post this, so i hope here is ok.

I finally found my ex after 9yrs of looking - it's a long story on why we seperated in the first place, but we have now talked, and have been for the last few months. I am the bio father of a 9yr old. My ex has married and has been with her husband for 7yrs and he is the childs father as far as she knows, and he wants to adopt her. Again, it's a long storey, but we have come to the agreement that it is best for the child, as well as both families. Now we just need to figure out how to go about this.

I live in WI. They live in Joplin, MO. We have looked into a company that handles all the paperwork for this in all 50 states, and think we may hire them to fill it all out, then she will file it with her county court - does this sound right ? Or is there some way we can save $ and get/fill out all the right paperwork ourselves ? What will all need to be done for this adoption ? It was also her idea to forgive my owed arrears as she belives they are not my fault, but of course some guilt is still there for me, so i have offered to pay for the adoption. But that brings up another question - how do we go about having the arrears forgiven ? Can that just be written into the paperwork before it's filed ? Can this even be done ?

Where do we start ? We are all getting along, and in agreement, so how painful or easy will this be for all of us ? Basically her husband of 6yrs wants this little girl as his legal daughter, and i want whats best for her and all of us, as a bonus, the mother wants to forgive my arrears, and we can all go on with our families. Thanks for any help and information you may have for me.

[hkolln]

I'm in Florida so I may not be able to help you.

My ex husband and I had a daughter together in 94. When I remarried he signed away his rights so my current husband in 98 adopted her.

We went to a local legal clinic and they filed the paperwork and the parental termination papers. That was 10 yrs ago so I don't know if it's changed or not (or different in your particular state). We paid I believe 200.00 total for the paperwork and another 100 for court filing fees/costs. Maybe check into a legal clinic to draw up the papers? Or call an attorney and get a free consulation to find out the procedure. The legal clinic we used just filed everything at the courts and we just went in front of the Judge to finalize the adoption. First you'll have to sign away your rights before the adoption can go thru and then they can fill out adoption papers for the new husband to adopt. It's pretty easy with stepparent adoptions....

[MiddleRiver]

Thank you very much for your reply - we will check into this. Thanks again !