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My husband and I were married 2 years ago when my son was 9 months old. At that time my son's bio dad - who had never even seen my son - hired a lawyer and voluntarily relinquished his parental rights. We now have the signed order of termination. We are wanting to proceed with the adoption (which was the intent from the beginning) but we don't want to have to hire an attorney. It's my understanding that the termination of the bio parent's rights is the biggest step in step parent adoption. I would think it would be very easy for us to file ourselves. However, I'm unable to find anyone from family court who will tell me where to obtain the needed documents. It's so frustating! If anyone has any info for step parent adoption in the state of TEXAS, please email me at: areagh@cablelynx.com Thanks so much!
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I know it's been a while since you posted that but, i am in the same situation in texas. I have the termination but we have been reluctant to continue because i'd rather proceed without a hefty lawyer bill.What did you end up doing???rachaelbuck@gmail.com
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I live in Ohio and and represented my husband and I in the adoption of our daughter. In Ohio, most of the forms are posted on the court website in pdf format. The rest of the forms I picked up from the Clerk of Court. I found the forms to be pretty self-explanatory but the Clerk's office staff was very helpful in answering questions and telling me which forms I did or did not need.
I wish I still had a copy of the article I found written by a paralegal in Texas that was my inspiration for doing the adoption myself. You may be able to find it on a search engine under "Pro Se Adoption Texas" or something of that nature.
It sounds like if the bio father already relinquished that the only thing you have to do is file the paperwork and possibly have a home study done (if necessary). The Court-Appointed social worker did ours since we didn't use an agency. Good luck!