Fiance wants to adopt my child

[sueharro]

I getting married on the 2nd Jan and my fiance wants to adopt daughter. Daughters real father has no parental responsability, but Fiance has due to him being in my will as childs gardian. I would like to know where I can go to to do this (soliciter, courts or the social services) how much it will cost and how long does it take to do. Also once the adoption is done, is the name change automatic or do we have to go through depoll. Can any one help and answer these for us.

have a look here

Does your dd father have contact with her?

Also this is from the bbc parenting site:

"Can I adopt a stepchild?

Yes, you can adopt a child from your partner's previous relationship. They can assume your surname and will be entitled to inherit an equal share of your estate with any other children you have.

The child will be consulted if possible, as legal ties with their other birth parent and wider family will be broken.

The ex-partner will also need to give their approval for the adoption. If they don't want it to proceed, only in exceptional cases will a court overrule them in favour of the step-parent. "

from here

Tricky one - sort of depends on why the natural father has no PR, and whether he is involved. I think (but might not be right) that you have to wait 3 years before applying to adopt, and even then you may need to permission of the natural father, even if he doesn't have PR.

If natural father is on the scene at all you would be better to get into mediation with him as the PR of a step father does not supercede that of a natural father - particularly if the natural father does not have PR on a technicality, eg child born before 2003.

Real father could nt be bothered to turn up to register her birth and we wer never married. He left me the day after i told him i was pregnant for a man. I have always given real dad or address and phone number and said that if he wants to see he then all he has to do is call and we would sort something out. But he never called. Having a child doesnt fit in with his gay lifestyle in fact on his face book page it says he has no children. He hasnt seen daughter since she was a year and a half and that was cause we bumped in to him in the street She was born in 2000. If there is any other questions then please dont hesertate to ask.

Guardianship wishes in your will are not legally binding

Alternatively, once you are married you can file a Step-Parent Parental Responsibility Agreement with a court. I have done this. Basically you are saying that you agree to dh sharing pr. Much easier than going down the adoption route.

You download a form from the HM Court Service web site. Fill it in and bring it to the a court (find out your nearest one on the web site). The clerk of the court checks your id, witnesses your signatures and then makes a record of the agreement.

BTW, once you are married, your will won't be valid any more and you will need to draw up a new one.