My question involves adoption law for the State of: Virginia; Maine

My ex and I were married/divorced in Maine. I have full custody, but he has visitation once a week. He has not had any contact with his children in almost two years, but due to the fact that I got food stamps for a period of time after he left, the State of Maine's Social Services Dept went after child support from him and attaches his wages. He stopped paying about six weeks ago b/c he's no longer working (I heard rumor his work was shut down) and last time this happened it took over a year to start getting money (he lives with his mom and doesn't care about having a job). We've been divorced 5 years (children were 4 and 2) and with re: younger son, he has never really had a relationship with his father and has been begging to be adopted for over a year now. I won't push it on my older son if he really doesn't want to.

Husband is from Virginia; we moved here from Maine in April. My husband really wants to adopt (which I am more than happy with); I'd also be content with simply terminating his parental rights on grounds of abandonment, but I don't know how I'd go about it. Will Virginia have jurisdiction over this case? Is it essential that I hire a lawyer to deal with this? I absolutely cannot afford one, and my ex won't sign over his rights or even agree to a name change because of his own family pressure, but he has made nary a phone call.

TIA for any help.