Can my husband adopt my son with out biological fathers consent?

[mrsmiller15]

Hello,
My husband has been in my sons life since he was 3 months old. The biological father has only been in his life since he was 1 and a half, my child calls my husband daddy and the bond is amazing! We just want to complete the family officially. Not to upset the biological father, but not sure what routes I would go down?

Not if bio dad is on birth certificate. Also remember that if DH adopts your son then the bio dad will not have to pay maintenance any more. That stopped me - we rely on that money :(

i know when dh's ex applied for parental responsibility (not adoption) for her new partner, they needed consent. So I'd assume you'd also need consent for the much bigger step of adoption.

Most don't apply for adoption as then you lose the right to child maintenance. However if you do want to adopt probably best first stop is a family lawyer.

Interesting though that most people on another thread said a step mum shouldn't allow step child to call them mummy. If the bio dad is still in his life I wonder what those posters think about a step child calling a step dad daddy...

Not without a court order. Is the birth father paying maintenance and seeing his child, if so not likely.

No.
And i expectd itd greatly upset the biological father if broached.
Despite breakdown in the relationship he is the dad,is he bamed on birth certificate

Does his biological father have a relationship with DS? If they have contact with each other or some kind of a relationship, then it's very unlikely a court would grant an adoption order because it would make them legal strangers. If they don't have any kind of contact or a relationship, it might be a different matter.

His permission has to be asked. If he agrees, it's much more straightforward as long as the court and childrens services think it served DS's best interests (the courts care about what is best for the child, not best for anyone else). If he didn't agree, adoption can only happen if the court dispenses with his consent, and to do that they need very good reasons why it's the right thing to do for DS.

There are alternatives to adoption which you could explore, which might give your DH some recognition without the massive effect of an adoption order.