ChiliPalmer
Member
What is the name of your state? Either WA or FL would have jurisdiction.
My husband intends to adopt my two girls. I'd like to know how we might go about starting the process.
First, I've no idea which state has jurisdiction. The girls were both born in WA state and there is an order for child support for the elder of my girls in WA state - their father and I were married, lived and divorced in FL and the girls are considered residents of FL. (For the curious, the elder girl was six months old when we moved to FL and I married their father, thus the order for child support vs. the marriage and divorce jurisdiction. Paternity was established for the elder and the younger was born during the marriage. Both girls have their father on their birth certificates.) I recently moved back to my hometown in WA and the girls' father resides in WA... I think.
The girls' father quite literally walked away on Labor Day four years ago and never looked back. In the past four years he's never once had contact with the girls through any means and the only contact with me has been two emails and a message his mother passed along via my brother. There has never been a child support payment made nor a single visit. I assume he lives somewhere in the vicinity of my hometown as my family has seen him here from time to time. I've moved since the divorce but my email has been the same for six years and my phone number the same for three years. He knows how to contact my family; my father has lived in the same house for sixteen years and had the same published phone number for more than thirty years, both of which the girls' father knows how to find. Further, the girls' father dated a woman after the divorce and after they broke it off the woman began dating, of all people, my brother. He spoke with my brother on numerous occasions (that's how his mother knew to get in contact with my brother to pass along the message) and knew how to contact my brother. My hometown is not overly large - every person in the phone book with my maiden name is a relative and all of them know my phone number, most of them know my address. The girls and I could have been found in less than thirty minutes if he wanted to find us.
The girls were very young when their father walked away and my husband is the only father they remember. He considers them to be his children. We think it would be prudent to make it official. So... how does one do that? And in which state?
My husband intends to adopt my two girls. I'd like to know how we might go about starting the process.
First, I've no idea which state has jurisdiction. The girls were both born in WA state and there is an order for child support for the elder of my girls in WA state - their father and I were married, lived and divorced in FL and the girls are considered residents of FL. (For the curious, the elder girl was six months old when we moved to FL and I married their father, thus the order for child support vs. the marriage and divorce jurisdiction. Paternity was established for the elder and the younger was born during the marriage. Both girls have their father on their birth certificates.) I recently moved back to my hometown in WA and the girls' father resides in WA... I think.
The girls' father quite literally walked away on Labor Day four years ago and never looked back. In the past four years he's never once had contact with the girls through any means and the only contact with me has been two emails and a message his mother passed along via my brother. There has never been a child support payment made nor a single visit. I assume he lives somewhere in the vicinity of my hometown as my family has seen him here from time to time. I've moved since the divorce but my email has been the same for six years and my phone number the same for three years. He knows how to contact my family; my father has lived in the same house for sixteen years and had the same published phone number for more than thirty years, both of which the girls' father knows how to find. Further, the girls' father dated a woman after the divorce and after they broke it off the woman began dating, of all people, my brother. He spoke with my brother on numerous occasions (that's how his mother knew to get in contact with my brother to pass along the message) and knew how to contact my brother. My hometown is not overly large - every person in the phone book with my maiden name is a relative and all of them know my phone number, most of them know my address. The girls and I could have been found in less than thirty minutes if he wanted to find us.
The girls were very young when their father walked away and my husband is the only father they remember. He considers them to be his children. We think it would be prudent to make it official. So... how does one do that? And in which state?
