This could be long, so I apologize in advance.

I need to know what kinds of rights and other things I have to stand on. What kinds of costs am I looking at (ballpark figure) for the future? What things do I need to keep in mind now, and when pursuing things in the future? What other kinds of questions do I need to ask when I do get a chance to speak with a lawyer? What actions can I take now, if any? What are things I need to think about for the opposing side?

I have a daughter who will be 3 in February. Her bio father has not seen her in almost a year. From finding out I was pregnant, he wasn't there. He saw her a handful of times the first year and a half of her life. Then he moved to FL about a year ago. She has never really known him. You show her pictures of him and she tells you it's a boy. The only daddy she has ever known is my fiance.

Her bio father has never called to even ask about her. He is not on the birth certificate. She has my last name. He does pay child support-but it doesn't pay for even 1/4 of her care. My fiance has taken full responsibility for her in EVERY aspect-emotional, financial, you name it. She is his little girl. We are getting married in less than 2 years and he want to legally make her his, as do I. This is where all my questions come in.

I know the biggest reason the bio father is going to fight me is b/c of his mom. As far as I know, neither one of them has the money to fight with in court. She is the one behind him telling him don't do this, don't do that. The last thing I want to do is go to court. He (bio father) now has another child with someone else in another state. This all started in IL, he moved to FL, my fiance and I moved to MO, and bio father's mom still resides in IL. I also recently learned that she is *thinking* of pursuing grandparent laws. What all does this mean? What kinds of grandparent laws does she have? (she being in IL, us being in MO)

We (fiance and I) want to change daughter's last name to fiances (mine will change when we marry). We want him to legally adopt her and get bio father and family out of the picture-they are no good for daughter.

I hope that was all as clear as mud Please help me to gain some insight to my questions. Feel free to ask anything that you need more info on. I do plan to consult a lawyer eventually (sooner than later hopefully) but fiance and I are both full time students and work so we don't have a lot of extra time on our hands.

justcurious55

i would move getting a lawyer up on your priority list. adoptions are complicated to begin with. since you're confident that bio father will contest it, it will just be that much more complicated. doesn't really matter much what the grandmother wants. the only way she could ever possibly get any sort of guardianship or custody of your daughter would be if she went through court and had your daughter taken away from you. she would have to prove you unfit and the court would have to believe that it was in your daughter's best interest to be with the grandmother instead of you or her bio dad. since you've given us no indication what so ever that that would be the case, i wouldn't even stress over it. let her think about going after whatever she wants. it's your child, not hers. she can't fight for custody the same way her bio father potentially could.

ScottGem

First, you CANNOT avoid court here. Adoption is a legal process. Is the child support court ordered? When was the last time the grandmother saw your daughter?

I agree with justcurious. Start shopping around for an attorney now. Once you pick an attorney they can advise you of your rights and the adoption process.

You WILL need to get the bio father to relinquish his rights to clear the way for the adoption. If you explain that will end his child support, he may agree.

As for grandma, if there was no court action in IL, then she would probably have to file in MO.

Fr_Chuck

Ok, Missouri, from my last check, they will require you to be married for him to adopt, and normally will have to be married about 6 months to file, and I beleive a year for it to be final.

You will have to have lived in MO for over 6 months with the child to file in family court there.

Is there a child custody agreement in place ?

Is there child support order in place?

if there is no child support order then bio father is not behind in any payments.

Grandparents rights are the right of the grandparent to see and visit the child. ( visitation rights) they can get the rights and then fight the adoption unless those rights are still allowed.

If the father merley shows up and protests ( fights) the adoption, normally it is not going to happen.
You are going to have to serve him papers for him to sign over his rights, Very seldom will the court allow the adoption if the bio father is not in agreement.

stinawords

Okay I agree with the others that you need to find yourself an attorney because you have to have one for an adoption period. You will have to go to court period... that's just how it works you are dealing with legal matters, legal matters are handled in court. The first mistake was not putting the bio father on the birth certificate because now relationship has to be established before an adoption can take place as well as all the other hoops to jump through. Why didn't you go to court for an order for support? He dosen't owe you anything unless you have an order signed by a judge.

me22487

First, you CANNOT avoid court here. Adoption is a legal process. Is the child support court ordered? When was the last time the grandmother saw your daughter?

Child Support has been ordered and has been in effect since Feb 6, 2008 (just shy a couple weeks of my daughter's first birthday). Grandmother last saw the child on July 30, 2009 for a very brief and uncomfortable time. It was an unannounced visit while we (fiance, daughter and myself) were visiting friends of mine that don't live far from the grandmother. She saw we were there and just invited herself over.

Is there a child custody agreement in place ? Not that I am aware of. There has never been any court proceedings between us. Nothing has ever been set about the bio father seeing the child X amount of days or he has her every other weekend or what have you. There is no visitation agreement set up.

Is there child support order in place? Yes. Established on Feb 6, 2008. I get $26/week

The first mistake was not putting the bio father on the birth certificate because now relationship has to be established before an adoption can take place as well as all the other hoops to jump through. Why didn't you go to court for an order for support? He dosen't owe you anything unless you have an order signed by a judge.

Why was my first mistake NOT putting him on the birth certificate? I did fail to clarify that he demanded a paternity test, which took the state 11 months to get to. He HAS been established as the biological father of my daughter-through DNA testing. I refused to put him on the birth certificate and I also refused to give her his last name. I didn't have to go to court for a court order of anything. Everything was done through the state at their own pace. After paternity was established, he had no choice but to begin paying me child support. The only thing he does is pay me child support, that is if he keeps his job.

When I stated that I wanted to avoid court, I meant in all aspects OTHER than the adoption process. I know court is inevitable with adoption proceedings, it's a legal matter. What kinds of costs am I looking at as far as the adoption? Fiance and I are 2 full time students with lots of student loans so I'd like to know how deep we will be getting in.

shelby4632

I suggest getting an attorney. ASAP. If the bio father has not established paternity , then that would be the only way he would have any rights to fight you. If he decides to establish paternity , then he could fight you not meaning he would win.Since he is not on birth certificate , he would have to file a petition to legitimate the child in the county you reside.I am going through a custody issue myself and have really been amazed at al the legal steps in regards to children. Be aware there are alot of "Father's Advocate Services out there that offer low or no cost counsel.Do not take this situation for granted and get the legal help now.

me22487

We have established paternity-I refuse to put him on the birth certificate and refuse to give her his last name. Thanks for the info on the advocate groups-I didn't even think about that. Now it's just convincing my fiance to seek legal advice now rather than later.

ScottGem

Child support is ordered by a court!

Paternity testing is ordered by a court!

You may have never been to a hearing, but someone has! And if the paternity test came back positive, then he is the LEGAL father (which is why support was ordered), not just the bio father.

As such he has the RIGHT to be on the birth certificate. I don't know who you refused to about putting his name on, but if a court orders it, it will be done whether you like it or not.

You can shop around for an attorney, costs range depending on area and other factors. You can get an idea of what it will cost and start saving.

P.S. Please use quoting correctly. Quoted passages need to be between quote tags.

stinawords

If the court already did all that I would bet that the judge also added him to the birth certificate you can't refuse it once a judge orders it. You will have to get a lawyer and they set their own rates so start shopping around now so you will know how long it will take you to save up the money.