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My husband wants to a adopt my son and we need to know how to start. The biological father is Indiana and thats all i know of his where abouts. He has only seen my son 4 times and has abandoned him. He has an awesome step father who loves him dearly.We want this to start and end quick. Need advise on what the laws are in cali and what we can do. Please help. Biological father is into drugs and has not been stable since the time of my sons birth. Its for the best of my son. :( Please help us.
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Contact the local court in your area and find out which department handles stepparent adoptions. You will want to go down there and speak with a clerk regarding the forms.
Your ex's consent will be needed. Or you will have to file a petition to terminate rights. You will need to find him to serve him with that paperwork.
If you still cannot find him after a dilligent search you will have to ask the court to allow service by publication.
I hate to tell you there is no quick and easy. It can be done but it will take time.
Start with the court clerks and go from there.
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I'm not sure what county your in, but if you are in LA county the place you need to contact is
County of LA Dept of Children and Family Services @
3075 wilshire Blvd., LA ,CA 90010
and you can call the supervisor of the stepparent adoption unit Bindu Vohra @ (213)639-4751 and they can get you started by sending you all the paperwork
your gonna have to get certified copies of birth certs for the adopted kids and certified marraige and or divorce certificates (these aren't real cheap and you don't get them back) then you have to pay the 20-something dollar filing charge and turn in copies of everything at your local family law courthouse and after a few months you will be contacted by a worker and you your spouse and the children in question will have to go down to the office in LA on wilshire for an interview and you will be required to pay between $50-$700 dollars for the petition, depending on your income leveland then get a few friends to fill out forms about how the feel about the step-parent and childs relationship and then you move onb to the hard part, get permission from the absent parent or fight for the termination of rights or try to find the parent or whatever applies to your circumstance.