[painterlady]

My daughter is ten and her stepfather is the only one she's known (since she was four). Her biodad has not had contact with her, or paid child support in over eight years. My husband would like to adopt her, but because of my ex's violent tendencies we are afraid to contact him to have him relinquish parental rights. What does Colorado law say about that?

[jennymc21]

My husband and I are going through a step parent adoption right now. We also live in CO. In this state, if the bio dad has not had contact or paid child support in over 1 year then you can proceed. We hired a lawyer. ($750 retainer) My husband had to get his fingers printed for a background check with the FBI and CBI. We decided to have our lawyer try to contact biodad instead of us. In our case, we did not know where he was, but knew his mothers address and phone number. We still were unable to contact him. After my husbands background came back he then signed the petetion for adoption and I signed my consent for my husband to adopt my son. We have to wait for the court to give us permission to run an ad in our local paper notifying biodad. The ad has to run 1 time, and the biodad has 30 days to notify the court if he wants to protest.
This is where we are at this point. I hope this might be able to help you.

[spoiled brt]

sorry to bug you but i will be going through this very soon. what papers are you talking about that the bio dad needs to sign? are they given to you by the court after you file adoption request?do you know what form we need to fill out if we all agree on adoption? your help is appreciated.

[jennymc21]

The ad ran in our local paper in November one time. It was on the last page of the classifieds in small print. Our court date has been set for January 7, 2004. If we don't hear anything from the biodad then things will be finalized! Yippie!

Brt--
We received all papers and info from our lawyer.

[painterlady]

There is a packet available from the court clerk. It's called an adoption packet. there is a fee but I'm not sure how much it is. Just like a divorce, you may handle the adoption yourself, but in certain situations it is probably better to have a lawyer. The specific papers the biodad has to sign are relinquishment of parental rights, again the court can provide you with these, but I'm sure there will be a fee.