I have a son from a previous relationship, we were not married but he did sign the birth certificate. He left when my son was one, and has never appeared or called. Im now married and my son is 4, my husband wants to adopt my son and give him his last name. Lawyer fee is 1500 PLUS actual cost of paperwork etc. I would like to do this without a lawyer, I live in the state of Illinois, could anyone tell me the steps to go about this?

Step on back to the lawyers office and work with them to get it done. This is no matter for you to handle by yourself and have it backfire on you later. There are so many things that can go wrong. Any one of them could be used to turn over the adoption. So do it right the first time.

Step on back to the lawyers office and work with them to get it done. This is no matter for you to handle by yourself and have it backfire on you later. There are so many things that can go wrong. Any one of them could be used to turn over the adoption. So do it right the first time.

And shop around. There is more than one lawyer in Illinois. $1,500 plus costs (assuming "actual cost of paperwork etc" means court filing fees, service of process, service by publication if necessary; not time required to actually draft the paperwork.) doesn't seem out of line, but it never hurts to do some comparison shopping.

What about the baby's biological father?

What about the baby's biological father?

What about him? She probably will need to either get his permission or get the permission dispensed with. He will have to be served, either in person or by publication.

I had gotten the impression the OP had written him out of the situation. I didn't want anyone to forget about him.