What is needed by ex-widower for simple Adoption

[bezanson]

Unfortunately my first wife passed away three years ago after a battle with cancer. Since then I was blessed with meeting and marrying another wonderful woman who wants to be more than the step-mom of my children.

The children range in age from 12, 10, and 7 and all are favorable to the idea. Is there a way that we can handle this ourselves and avoid the expense of an attorney. To us, the naive parents, it would seem a simple matter to file some forms, social services to come and meet the kids/us, get approval, and have forms legally signed by a judge. Are we missing something? Is there some place we should go to start.

Thanks in advance for any/all help. We live in Wisconsin.

Brian

 

[dorenephilpot]

Yes, you can do this yourself.

Go to the biggest library near you and get some books on do-it-yourself adoptions. Or you might also be able to find what you need at a big bookstore.

When it's a stepparent adoption and the other parent is deceased, there's not a lot to contest, so really it's just a matter of getting the paperwork done properly.

The process takes awhile, so you have to be patient. The home study is usually the thing that holds up the process.

Hope this helps.