My question involves adoption law for the State of: ME and NY
My husband and I recently moved to ME from NY. My 3-year-old daughter's biological father still lives in NY and my husband would like to adopt her. Her biological father has no qualms with this and in fact has already sent me a notarized consent for adoption form earlier this year in April.
Now, we have only lived in Maine since June of this year. I'm not sure how to proceed with the adoption, whether or not we should do it in Maine or in New York, and the fastest way to get it done. We plan on traveling overseas to Iraq in February or March 2013 and it must be complete by then as I don't want there to be any issues with taking my daughter there.
My husband and I have been married since July 2011 but it is a religious marriage (we are Muslim) and we never bothered doing a civil ceremony. Should we do that before starting the adoption process or does it not matter?
So, my questions are:
Does it matter we have only lived in Maine for a few months or will we have to wait? Would we able to file the adoption in NY if we can't do it in ME yet?
Do I need a notarized consent for adoption form if we file in ME or will the NY form suffice as the father lives in NY?
Do I need to have a civil ceremony performed even though my husband and I had a religious ceremony performed?
What is the fastest method of a step-parent adoption?
Thank you.

