[lkltx]

Hello...my husband and I have been married almost three years. We want him to adopt my two children from a previouse marriage. Their ages are 14 and 7. Their biological father has not exercised his visitation or paid child support since we were divorced in June of 1999. At this point in time he owes over $25,000 in back child support. Our divorce was finalized in Oklahoma and we (me and the children) now live in Texas. I have done internet searches for him with no luck and have no clue how to get in touch with him. It has been six years since he has seen the children. The last known address I have for his parents is no good so I do not even know how to get in touch with them. Can we do a step parent adoption ourselves or would it be better to get an attorney? Is there a law in Texas if the non custodial parent of the children hasn't seen them in a certain length of time rights can automatically be terminated? Do we have to petition the court for this? Do my husband and myself have to be married a certain amount of time before we can apply for step-parent adoption? Any info is greatly appreciated!

[txtaylor]

Tina,
Ok, let's start at the beginning. The 14 year old will have a say in the adoption. Basically meaning he or she will have to give their consent. Yes, Texas does terminate on grounds of abandonment. If you've lived in the county your are filing in for the previous 6 months to filing you can do it here. I'm not sure how it works in regards to notifying the other parent via the newspaper, but go to your local law library and there should be information there that gives you what the ad states and how long it must be ran. YES, you can do a step-parent adoption and NO, you don't need an attorney. A very good friend just finalized her adoption today and she did it with the information I gave her. YES, you have to petition the court and no there is no time constraints on it. It looks better if you've been married at least a year, but it's not a requirement.

I sent you a message so email me and I can fill you in on the rest of the info!

[burrisn]

can u please give me info about step parent adoption without have to have a laywer?

[txtaylor]

burrisn,

If you will leave me an email address I will forward the information to you. If you want send it to me privately.

[2dawgz]

I would like to have the information if you still have it. I would like to do my own adoption of my daughter and need a little help in the right direction. You can contact me at h_walthall@yahoo.com.

Thank You

[bulvog]

I would love to have the information also. My situation is similar to the first posting. My e-mail is brandiulvog@yahoo.com. Thank you so much.

[andilreiter]

I also would greatly appreciate the information. I have been with my husband over 5 years and my sons biological father has been in jail for a while and now missing for sometime. We'd love to have my husband adopt him, but have a limited income, so if we could do this on our own (w/o a lawyer) it would be a blessing! Thank you very much, my email is andilreiter@yahoo.com .

[scarlett75143]

Could someone send me the step parent adoption papers. My email is kimberlykellytx@yahoo.com

Also, I believe that if my daughters biological father gives up his rights, his child support will stop. Is that correct?
I think that may be a HUGE selling point for him on the adoption, if its true.

Thanks!

Kimberly

[gcasson]

My situation is very similar to the first post; however, we have been married over seven years without any interaction with the biological father. We've always put off adoption due to finances, but my son is getting older and his different last name is becoming a very sore issue at school, etc.

Any information that would assist me in starting the step parent adoption process (probably on grounds of abandonment) would be greatly appreciated.

Greg..

gnecasson@comcast.net

[JENNI0714]

i am trying to do the termination of parental rights

[joeyfoley]

To: Scarlett75413

Yes, he will not be responsible for future child support once the adoption is finalized.

[damienm]

Hello, I came across this post and would also like information about the adoption paperwork or process and my email is damienmonk@hotmail.com

Thank You
Damien

[LaurenceRooks]

Originally Posted by txtaylor

Tina,
Ok, let's start at the beginning. The 14 year old will have a say in the adoption. Basically meaning he or she will have to give their consent. Yes, Texas does terminate on grounds of abandonment. If you've lived in the county your are filing in for the previous 6 months to filing you can do it here. I'm not sure how it works in regards to notifying the other parent via the newspaper, but go to your local law library and there should be information there that gives you what the ad states and how long it must be ran. YES, you can do a step-parent adoption and NO, you don't need an attorney. A very good friend just finalized her adoption today and she did it with the information I gave her. YES, you have to petition the court and no there is no time constraints on it. It looks better if you've been married at least a year, but it's not a requirement.

I sent you a message so email me and I can fill you in on the rest of the info!

Jen,

Can you help me out as well? I have been with my wife for almost 3 1/2 years, married 2 1/2 years of that time. She had two children prior to us getting together, one from a previous marriage and one from a previous relationship. Here's a break down of each situation.

The last time her ex-husband had phone contact with her son was almost 2 years ago. The last time he sent any mail was a birthday card last year to her parents house. He has our physical address and our phone number and has known for almost a year that she wants me to adopt her son, thereby terminating his rights, which he doesn't want to happen. He hasn't physically seen him in over 4-5 years and hasn't paid any child support for almost 5-6 years, which he has a warrant out for his arrest. We are pretty confident he will not contest for fear of being arrested.

The last time her ex-boyfriend had phone contact with her daughter was almost 2 years ago. The last time he sent anything in the mail was almost 2 years ago. He also has our physical address and our phone number and has known for almost a year that she wants me to adopt her daughter, thereby terminating his rights, which he is okay with. He hasn't seen her in almost 3 years and hasn't paid any child support for the entire 5 years of her life.

I have downloaded all the adoption documents from this site. We can't afford to pay a laywer so we're wanting to do this on our own. Both the children want me to adopt them so that they can have my last name, especially in regards to school. What do we need to do to get this done as quickly as possible with the least amount of issues from either father? How much will it cost if we do this by ourselves so that we can be prepared ahead of time?

My email address is laurencerooks@mac.com. My wife's email address is melissarooks@mac.com. Can you please help us out with whatever information you can or point us in the right direction? We both truly appreciate this. It would be a blessing from God to have this done and taken care of before the start of the next school year since my son will be attending intermediate school and there are already questions being asked about his last name as well as my daughter's first day of school. Thank you in advance.

Laurence

[jimmelendrez]

Originally Posted by 2dawgz

I would like to have the information if you still have it. I would like to do my own adoption of my daughter and need a little help in the right direction. You can contact me at h_walthall@yahoo.com.

Thank You

hi! i would like some info to adopt my step daughters they have never known their biological fathers as far as i know they don't even know they exist and if they do they have chosen not to know them money is tight so i 'am willing to do alot of the leg work can you help me.........thanks they are 17 and 14

[Bendi17kp]

Hi, my husband is wanting to adopt my children and they are wanting it to just as badly but I cannot seem to get anywhere. If possible we would like to do it on our own so we can afford it. I am not sure what papers I need or money I need. Anything for that matter. I just know this is so important to all of us so anything you could send me would be so appreciated. Thank you. You could send it to Bendi17kp@houston.rr.com