Hello all, I have an 8 year old son and my husband wants to adopt him. His real father agrees, he lives in Louisiana, and he lives in North Carolina. Which state do we do this in? And where do I start. Please anyone with an answer, it would be GREATLY appreciated!

Fr_Chuck

You file in the state where you live with the 8 year old. they will serve the bio father notice of intent for him to respond to, and most likely your attorney will have papers giving away his rights drawn up to be filed to the court. as long as the father agrees there should be no problem.

vlee

Around here, you file in whatever county the last court order regarding the child was made in, so if you have moved you might need the former court's "permission" to file for the adoption in another jurisdiction. In PA that doesn't mean just state to state, it is literally county to county. You need to look up your county or state's regulations on this. Try linking onto the local courthouse website for whatever county you had a previous agreement in. If there has never been anything filed in family court regarding custody, visitation, or support for your child then you are free to file where the child lives currently, as long as you have resided there with the child for a specified time period (usually 6 months or more). Contact an attorney, as you will need one to file the adoption papers anyway.