[tgage]

Here we are! I asked for a Utah, step-parent forum and got one...

Just today, I jumped into the water, and filed my petition for the adoption of my 4 step-children. I'm doing all the paperwork and such myself (no attorney) - that's called "Petitioner In Pro Se" in Utah (and other states).

Our hope is that we won't hear from the kids bio-dad - that he'll just not respond. We have no address on him and he's not paying child support. We've sent a copy of the notice to him at his parent's address and once that comes back refused (his parents won't accept any legal papers for him) we'll submit a motion to the court to serve him by publication.

Anyway, I'm hoping that by Thanksgiving, we'll have it all finalized. My dear wife and I have been married for 1-1/2 years, so we've already passed the one-year-in-the-home requirement.

Anyone else in Utah working on a step-parent adoption?

Tim

[missetery13]

I was wondering how to go about doing an adoption yourself without hiring an attorney. My husband is going to adopt my two older boys (uncontested).

[tgage]

Well, the place to start is to get your husband up to speed on the adoption laws in Utah. They can be found at: http://www.le.state.ut.us/~code/TITLE78/78_28.htm. Also, brush up on the court rules (specifically, the rules of Civil Procedure) at: http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/

The BYU Law Library is a must also. There are two specific things to find there first. One is an article from the Utah Law Review of 1994 which has some great inforamation on step-parent adoption in utah. Also, there's a very large resounce (3-ring binder thing) from the Utah Legal Service that's a great source for forms and such.

Unfortunately, all of my info is at home - when I get there tonight, I'll put the particulars on the two documents mentioned above.

Tim

[tgage]

Well, as of this morning, December 11th, at 9:30am (well, it was actually about 9:45...), I'm a proud father of 4 wonderful children.

No longer will they be my "step" children. No more explaining why my last name is different, etc...

There was no problems at all. No questions about whether or not we'd notified my DW's ex properly, etc...

I'm going to remember this day for a LONG time.

TTFN all!!!

Tim

[christina_davis]

Congratulations to you and your new family.....We too were given the news on December 15th, my husband and i are so excited...You ought to be very proud of being such a wonderful and caring man..God bless you and your WHOLE family.. Good luck to you all!!

[SQnTwo]

I am seeking to have the papers drawn up and signed by the fathers of my children.
Where is the best resource for the correct document and the way it needs to be typed.
I am not married but I would like to have them on hand and complete to be filed when the time is right. Where are my best resources for this information?
If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated.
Thanks

[tgage]

Well, a blanket consent to adoption won't work in Utah (my experience at least). The consent needs to be one that specifically names the person who's going to adopt the children.

As for the sources for adoption paperwork and such - see my message above as well as the following link: http://www.law2.byu.edu/law_library/...es/guide5.html this was the starting point for me.

Specifically, the Domestic Relations Manual which is in the reserve section at the BYU law library is a great reference.

Specific to step parent adoptions, there is an article from the Utah Law Review from March of 1994. It starts on page 16 and Jeannine P. Timothy is the author.

Good luck on your quest and come back with and upate and/or questions.

Tim

[coriandjames]

i am trying to find an adoption petition to get the whole thing started so my husband can adopt my daughter, he has raised her for over five years, and, my ex husband said he will agree to let him adopt her. can you tell me where to begin? we dont want to use an attorney because i think we can do this easily since the ex will agree to it. how did your adoption case turn out? can you tell me anything that would be helpful? thanks, cori and james

[autmur80]

I just wanted to thank you all for your helpful information. I had no idea where to even beginning looking for information to help my fiance adopt his step-son from his soon to be ex-wife. I just wanted to say thank you and congratulations!

[tgage]

So, your fiance wants to adopt his step-son from his about-to-be ex wife? Is she in the step-son's life at all? I would think that he'd want to settle the issue of his step-son and adoption before he thinks about/looks at divorce. If he's already divorced or in the process, that's going to make the adoption less easy. My dw was VERY supportive of the adoption - if I would have had to get both her consent AND that of her ex - that would have made things much more difficult.

Tim

[autmur80]

They have been separated for three years and he's had sole physical custody for two years. We live here in Utah and she lives in North Carolina with no personal contact whatsoever in the last year. When they were still living together and quite happy the plan was always to have him be adopted but my finace was stationed overseas with the military and wanted to wait until he was stationed in the states to get it taken care of...well, when they got back to the states they decided to split. And now his son really wants to be officially adopted since his mom has basically just written him off. We don't think she'll fight him with this adoption. We just had no idea where to start. We didn't even know if it would be possible without an attorney. His divorce papers have not been filed yet, as he wants to make sure the adoption has gone through before severing the last ties with the ex. I really appreciated your links they gave a lot of good information.

[scrappinville]

OK, HERE IS THE DEAL! ME AND MY HUSBAND HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR GOING ON 7 YEARS. HE REALLY WANTS TO ADOPT 2 OF MY CHILDREN, THE FIRST CHILD HAS NO FATHER ON THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND THE OTHER HAS A FATHER ON THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO... I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO GET AN ATTORNEY-BUT MY HUSBAND REALLY NEEDS TO ADOPT THE KIDS. ANYWAYS, I HAVE READ A LOT OF DOCS OF ADOPTING... BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO BE HELPING ME TO KNOW WHAT FORMS I NEED TO FILL OUT... WHERE TO GET THEM AND THE WHOLE PROCESS-FRANKLY MOST OF THE LEGAL INFO I HAVE READ MAKES NO SENSE... ITS WRITTEN IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE TO ME... I NEED HELP TO FIND OUT WHERE TO GET THE FORMS I NEED AND WHAT THEY ARE... PLEASE HELP ME... PLEASE... PLEASE.

THANK YOU,

APRIL

[tgage]

The only option for a do-it-yourself step-parent adoption in utah is to do the research on what documents you need. The Utah Law Review article mentioned above along with the link to the BYU Law Library are definate start places. The Domestic Relations Manual (also mentioned above) is another place with samples of forms for just about everything you need to do.

I did my own work to adopt my 4 children starting about 1 year ago. It was do-able, but took some study. I've since started and completed a paralegal program (associates) at UVSC and am now working for a law firm in Salt Lake City and completing my bachelors degree. Law School is just around the corner.

Good luck!

Tim Gage