[JaneWhitney]

Hello. On my daughters birth certificate it says 'unknown' as the biological father. I am now married to a different man, who is not my daughters biological father. How do I go about doing this if I have no biological father listed on her birth certificate. I know who her biological father is, but I WILL NOT contact him. If the courts don't know who the biological father is, will they let him adopt my child? My husband and I really want him to adopt my daughter. Please help me to figure out what I will do and what will happen during this process. Thank you all so very much!! :D PLEASE HELP!!

[shygrneyzs]

When you start this process, your attorney will ask about the biological Father. Maybe you live in a state where this guy does not need to be notified and his permission does not need to be given. Your attorney would know this and can advise you. Just because there is no biological Father listed, does not mean you are free and clear of what you want to do. Please check with your attorney and be honest. Don't say you do not know who this guy is. Good luck to you and your husband.

[vlee]

If you know who the guy is you are obligated to contact him yourself or through an attorney. If you choose to lie and say you have no idea who the father is that doesn't make you look very good.

[Fr_Chuck]

You will have to have your attorney contact the bio father, just because he is not listed on the birth certificate, does not mean he does not have every right as if he was. So at this point and time he has custody and visittion rights if you have not went to a court and got any type of court order stating he does not. Merely not listing him on a birth certificate does not take away a single right.

So while you don't have to contract him, your attorney will have to and have him sign his rights away to allow the adoption to take place.

And if you lie to the court, the adoption could be overturned if they later prove you lied So do it right

[JaneWhitney]

I now know that I need to find the biological father to get him to sign so that my husband now can legally adopt my daughter. Well about how much could this cost? I'm clueless! $500, 5,000 maybe even 50,000. Also, I know there are those free attorneys for poor people. Do they have these for adoption cases?:confused:

[ScottGem]

You are going to need an attorney to handle the adoption in any case. So start shopping around. Many will give you a free consultation. Setting up an adoption in these circumstances isn't expensive. It just takes a few hours of a paralegal's time. As for finding the bio father, its just a matter of due diligence. Contacting all know relatives, putting a newspaper ad in where he was last known to live, etc.

[whiteladybug2002]

My husband has adopted my children. I have two from a previous marriage and one from a ex boyfriend. The ex boyfriend signed his rights away and it was a simple adoption, it costs about $700 for the lawyer. My ex husband made things more difficult, we could not find him to have him served for 6 months and since he didn't sign away his rights, there was more things our lawyer had to do. He charged us about the same for all adoptions, but all lawyers are different. They can charge what ever they want for anything! The most expensive doesn't mean the best either... Be careful.

Shop around, meet with some lawyers, and know the law... the internet is a wonderful tool!

Good Luck and God Loves You!

[JaneWhitney]

My husband has adopted my children. I have two from a previous marriage and one from a ex bf. The ex bf signed his rights away and it was a simple adoption, it costs about $700 for the lawyer. My ex husband made things more difficult, we could not find him to have him served for 6 months and since he didn't sign away his rights, there was more things our lawyer had to do. He charged us about the same for all adoptions, but all lawyers are different. They can charge what ever they want for anything!! The most expensive doesn't mean the best either..........Be careful.

Shop around, meet with some lawyers, and know the law.......the internet is a wonderful tool!!

Good Luck and God Loves You!!

Hey, do you know any really good websites that you know off hand that would help. If not, I can search no prob. Just wondering if you have any good ones that you remembered?
PS THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

[ScottGem]

:mad: When I was with my daughters bio father he was on drugs. This was about 2 1/2 years ago. I really doubt he cleaned up! His whole family was on drugs. I really want to keep my daughter away from them! I even told them that I had the baby with someone else. Will this make it any easier for my new husband to get legal rights of my daughter if her bio dad is still on drugs? :mad:

Please don't start a new thread for a related question. It helps to keep everything in the same thread. I've asked that the two threads be merged.

It will only make it easier if the bio father refuses to relinquish rights. Your first step is to file for adoption, part of that process will be getting the bio father to relinquish his rights. The only way around that is if you can't contact him, but you have to make a reasonable effort to find him.

[JaneWhitney]

Hey all, I had my daughter out of wedlock, so she carries my maiden name. I am now married to a different man and I was wondering if I can change my babys name without the process of getting the bio father to sign away his rights and all that...? i want to change it to my husbands last name.... I live in Arizona:confused:

[ScottGem]

Again, please do not post the same thing in different threads. This all goes back to the original question. I will ask that this be merged in.

[RickJ]

{ merged }

[whiteladybug2002]

I don't know of any specific websites off hand, just Google it! But if no bio dad is on the BC, then your spouse can go to court house and claim paternity of the child. I don't think it cost anything and if he is not contesting paternity, then he doesn't have to take a paternity test to prove he is the father.

Good Luck and God Loves You!

[endlessecho]

What are you going to do if you contact the dad and he doesn't want to sign over he's rights, but wants to fight for he's kids?