Step Parents getting custody?

Bio dad has to sign away his rights first. I'm in the same boat but he won't do it. I'm in calif. It's very frustrating!

Ya I doubt my ex will sign away his rights . I don't know why he hangs on when he doesn't even see my son or pay child support. He's behind so much. And he has two other kids that he's really behind on paying child support. Hopefully he gives up :( good luck to you too in your situation

Yeah I know how you feel. Totally sucks. You too! :)

My brother was able to adopt his wife's 3 kids. They attempted to contact the bio dad to get his permission but bio dad didn't reply or file appeal so my brother was able to legally adopted all 3 kids. When my family adopted my younger brother we attempted to contact the bio mom but we're unable to find her so after proving we had attempted but failed to find her the judge allowed us to legally adopt my younger brother. You could always try the worst case scenario you show the judge that bio dad ain't paying his child support or spending any time with the kid and the judge will likely sign off on the adoption even if bio dad refuses to give up rights.

So this was awhile ago but my dad adopted my brother and sister. Bio dad didn't have to sign rights away if you can provide proof he hasn't paid child support or isn't there for the child. I would go talk to someone and see what they say. It may be different depending on state.

I'm going to be doing this as well. I just got full and sole custody of my daughter and we are looking to do this for my daughter. Let me know how yours pans out.

My mom already had my sister when my dad and her met, they got her bio dad to sign over all rights and my dad adopted her legally and gave her his last name. She's always called him dad, her bio dad has never been in her life but his parents were involved with my entire family, they even got me gifts at Christmas!

Following.. My husband has a son and his mom is basically an egg donor I've been in his life since he was 10 months old and I'm the only mother he knows but he calls me babe :) my husband and I have talked about this but have always assumed that his bio mom would have to sign over rights my husband has sole physical and legal too she has her supervised visitations but never signed up to do anything and hasn't seen him in over 3 years and is behind on child support but it got dropped to 0$ cause she's on welfare for the other baby she had

I'm currently dealing with this right now. In Nebraska, you can claim abandonment after six months of no contact. However, child support is considered contact, even if it's being garnished (which makes it involuntary). Phone calls, texts, Facebook messages, etc. are also considered contact. If you can prove 6 months of no contact, then you have the legal right to ask the court to revoke parental rights. Otherwise, you have no choice but to ask him to sign his rights away. One thing to keep in mind is that all past due child support will still be owed unless you forgive it. In the case of my ex husband, I have over $36,000 to use as leverage to get him to sign his rights away.

^^^$36,000?!?! Has he gone to jail for that? My ex has been to jail for not paying child support with his twin boys from another relationship and I'm kinda hoping if he has to go back to jail for not paying me that he'll just want to give up his rights and I won't even ask him to pay back all the child support

Yep!! It's crazy. I live in Nebraska and he lives in Kansas. He has been to jail several times, and has had his drivers license revoked since 2010 (in Nebraska). Interestingly enough, he is a police officer for a small town. They must not do due diligence before hiring their officers!!