[detard]

Yes I am planning on adopting my stepson if the father decides he can't handle seeing me with his x-wife and son and wants nothing to do with them. He will be stubborn though about signing for me to adopt the kid. His name is not on the birth certificate, though. Will we still have to have to have his signature for it. This guy will not make it easy, which is foolish since he never want to talk to her or him again. Wondering what I'm getting myself into.
thank you

[DianeS]

It does not matter if his name is on the birth certificate or not. To the courts, a father is a father, regardless of that formality.

Most states require either the birth father to agree to the stepfather adoption, or for the birth father to be proven unfit or that he abandoned his child/ren. Not sending child support, not requesting visitation, not sending letters or birthday gifts, that sort of thing can be used to prove abandonment. Unfit would include being a drug user, having unsafe housing, leaving a young child unattended during visitation, etc.

It's extremely rare for a judge to permit stepparent adoption if the birth parent is still involved in the child's life in any manner and objects to the adoption.

Good luck!