any benefits to dp legally adopting my son from previous

[mrspicklepants]

Have been with dp since ds 9 was tiny he never met his real father ,he is not on birth certificate and unlikely to ever come looking for ds I hope. He was an absolute vile nasty piece of work:-( anyway is it worth dp adopting my son? Are there any legal advantages to doing this? The obvious one which is highly unlikely would be me dying and then vile real father turns up forces DNA test proves he's ds father and takes him!

You are not married to your dp, are you? Does he want to adopt him?

From what I have heard it is considered quite a serious process, involving you being assessed as a couple, you technically have to hand him over to the state and then adopt him together (although he would stay living with you, it's just in legal terms really) and most of the benefits can be obtained in different ways - for example have you thought of getting married? As his stepfather he would have some legal status then, also if you made a will specifying him as guardian, and I believe he can then apply for parental responsibility. You can also change your son's name so it is the same as your partner's, if you wish (e.g. if you changed your name on marriage).

I'm not sure you necessarily have to be married - if you died & made it clear in your will that this man has been in the role of father & living with you as a family for x no. of years then a complete stranger not named on the birth cert would have VERY little chance of being awarded custody, although may be awarded some form of contact.

Also, if your DS is 9 now he is old enough for his wishes to be taken into account re where he lives and who he lives with if something were to happen to you.I think.

Not legally qualified however from what I have understood it is easier to get him parental rights than adopting.

My thoughts re marrying was that if he is prepared to make such a commitment to the child as adopting him why not marry, for the legal protection that offers all three of them should anything happen and also for general everyday things it can just make things similar.

Far easier to get parental responsibility for a step parent, although actually I'm not sure you can if not married.

Thanks all that helps a lot!

Does your DS want to be adopted? Legally marriage is probably better. But at that age I would have wanted to be adopted by my Mum's partner. A bit different but I used to think that if my Mum died then my bio Dad might come back and I might have to run away and live in a tree. I had a plan. I was really worried about it.

You will only be able to give your partner PR if you are married to him.