[jenjen27]

My Daughter wants to be adopted by her step father. Her real father has not made an effort to see her in approx 4 years and no child support for year and half now. He never did pay all the time to begin with just enough to keep support services off his back. We are having a difficult time finding him as he is in hiding and his parents are hiding him as well. We want to go thru with the adoption but when would she be old enough to make the decision on her own without her fathers consent? She is 13 now and live in Arkansas.

[threeandmore]

Well, I don't know that there IS an age at which a minor can make these decisions on his/her own. At 13 I would think a judge would certainly take her feelings into consideration, though. In order for your husband to adopt her, her BioDad's parental rights would need to be terminated. With a stepparent willing to adopt, the biodad can decide to voluntarily terminate his parental rights. If that is not an option, you could look into the possibility of petitioning the court to terminate his rights due to abandonment. Once the biodad's rights are terminated, your husband could adopt. Laws concerning parental rights and adoption vary from state to state, so the best thing to do is to have a consultation with an attorney to find out where you stand and what you'd need to do in your state. Sometimes attorneys will provide a brief initial phone consult free of charge, so you might try calling around.

If Biodad is willing to cooperate, you don't necessarily need an attorney - in such cases many people just hire a paralegal to handle the paperwork, or even just do it all themselves.

Good luck, I hope this was helpful.