I know this question has been asked a lot, but I have kind of a different spin on it. My husband has full custody of his son(my step son) His ex wants to sign over her rights so I can adopt him. My question is this, who is responsible for hiring the attorney to do this and also is this going to be a difficult process? Any help at all would be great. Thank you so much!

Hello er:

If YOU want the lawyer to represent YOUR interests, YOU hire him. It's only difficult if she fights you.

excon

Normally each party hires their own attorney, or if agreeable, split the costs.
If she is willing to sign over the rights , it is merely filling out paperwork and filing with the court

Not really a new spin. YOU are filing for adoption, ergo, YOU hire the attorney. She may have her own attorney to represent her interests or not.

If the ex WANTS to sign over rights, then it shouldn't be difficult.

Neither of you would really NEED attorneys if the bio mother is in agreement with signing over her rights. If you want to take the "headache" out of making sure you have all the right papers and everything is filed correctly, they you need to get an attorney and you would need to pay for it on your own. The bio mother won't need an attorney if she is willingly signing away her rights... she doesn't have anything to gain, she is simply signing away all parental rights.

I would suggest getting an attorney just to make things easier on you. It won't be very expensive if the bio mother is in agreement with signing away her rights. It's basically just drawing up the paperwork... both parties signing the required paperwork... and filing it all correctly.

It shouldn't be a difficult process at all because the bio mother won't be fighting it.