[fulloflife]

Hi,
This is my first post. My first husband passed away...I have 2 children. I am now remarried and my husband would like to adopt my children. (ages 12 and 15). We have been calling around to lawyers and are surprised at how very expensive this process is. Since, the adoption would be uncontested we're thinking this should be a fairly simple process and wondering if we can do this ourselves...has anyone out there done this or should we stick with using a lawyer. Anyone with advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[meghan2215]

My daughter is eight and my husband wants to adopt her we do not have a lawyer (way to expensive) the biological father is unknown and will be uncontested. I have been told that it should not be that hard, but this is by someone who had a lawyer help them. Anyway I just called the city/county building and did what they told me to do now we are waiting to here what the next step is.

[fulloflife]

Hi,
Thanks for responding....our adoption is already final. We decided to shop around for lawyers and found one who was half the price of the others....shopping around definitely pays and for the little amount of time she had to spend on this uncontested adoption it is a crime what those other lawyers are charging. She was very cut and dry...it's a simple process and we were thankful that she was so reasonable. She charged less for both children than some lawyers wanted to do the adoption for one. She didn't have a big corporate office but knew the law and that was all we needed. We had the court hearing..all of 15 minutes and that was it! We are all now one family with one name. It took about a month from the time we first visited the lawyer to the hearing. Good luck with your process.

[meghan2215]

Congratulations! That is wonderful. We are still going to try to do this with no lawyers I hope it works out.

[krissy2002]

Originally Posted by meghan2215

My daughter is eight and my husband wants to adopt her we do not have a lawyer (way to expensive) the biological father is unknown and will be uncontested. I have been told that it should not be that hard, but this is by someone who had a lawyer help them. Anyway I just called the city/county building and did what they told me to do now we are waiting to here what the next step is.

You should still have a lawyer to help you. My mom went through this when I was 8. My stepdad adopted me my biological father was unknown. When he turned up and a simple blood test was done. Because his rights had not been properly terminated it voided the adoption. He was not given the right to claim his rights or terminated. If you at least don't hire a lawyer, most will give you adivice on how to proceed. Some newer lawyers will set you up on payment plans or you can contact Keysotne Legal Aid for a reducied lawyer if you live in PA.