[jsmith78]

I have a friend that wants to give me custody of her child. I need to know how to get full custody of this child so I can raise he/she as my own? The child is not born yet.

[Alty]

I'm not an expert in the law, but I'll give you my opinion. Hopefully someone with more knowledge in this area will come on soon.

As far as I know the mother and father of the child would have to sign over their rights to the child. You'll need a lawyer in order to get custody.

You will have to be declared fit to parent this child, I'm sure that your finances, life, home, and everything else will be looked at before you can gain custody.

Like I said, this is just a guess, I'm not an expert in the law.

Please check back frequently, we have many experts on this site, we all do this in our spare time and we have members from all over the world, it may take some time before you question is answered.

Good luck.

[div2wice]

I agree... nor am I an expert but in all adoption cases the parent and/or parents need to sign over their parental rights.
Even though it's a friend, it may be a good idea to go through an adoption lawyer, to insure everything is handled correctly. Legal wise... Have papers drawn up that are detailed (i.e. whether it will be an open or closed adoption, who will pay the fees, medical care during the pregnancy, etc)
The lawyer would also help in filing the adoption papers after the baby is born, etc. Its expensive to go through a lawyer, but it is really essential in a case like this where an adoption agency isn't involved. Just safer this way.

Good luck!