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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    8

    Default Step Parent Adoption in Florida

    I just recently moved to georgia. My husband would like to adopt my daughter. I don't know where my ex-husband lives except it's in Baltimore. Child support enforcement in Maryland have been trying to locate him for the last five years and have been unable. The only person that will talk to me in his family is his grandmother and she stated he was staying with his sister. I gave Child support the address and the sheriff stated his sister stated he didn't live there. Because his name is not on the deed, they(child support) refuses to keep issuing a summons for her address, eventhough whenever they put his SSN in the computer her address comes up. A lawyer that I talked to in Maryland before I moved told me it would be next to impossible and very costly to go through with a contested adoption which I know he will contest if he is found. But I know Georgia has laws about abandoment and I am trying to find out if him contesting would even matter. I have tried to read the laws for Georgia but I don't understand them and how to proceed. We are currently in the process of filing for a name change for her but it is the same situation with consent. I wanted to know if any one has a similiar issue and can lend some advice.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Michigan
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    28,906

    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Florida

    How did you serve him with notice of your petition to change the child's name?

  3. #3
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    Jul 2006
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    Florida
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    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Florida

    Quote Quoting aaron
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    How did you serve him with notice of your petition to change the child's name?
    Also, OP says that she just recently moved to GA and mentions reading GA laws. Unless I'm wrong, I believe that OP will first need to establish residency in GA before anything can be filed, correct?

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    Michigan
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    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Florida

    With a child custody case open in another state, she may need to file through the other state.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    8

    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Georgia

    Nothing has been issued yet. I moved here to Georgia in May. I haven't filed the papers yet for the name change. The case that I have in Maryland is for Child Support Enforcement and not custody. I was already awarded full custody in my divorce five years ago. I am trying to figure out how to use the Georgia laws. I can't serve with the papers because I don't have an address for him

  6. #6
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    Jul 2006
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    Florida
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    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Georgia

    Quote Quoting niquern
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    Nothing has been issued yet. I moved here to Georgia in May. I haven't filed the papers yet for the name change. The case that I have in Maryland is for Child Support Enforcement and not custody. I was already awarded full custody in my divorce five years ago. I am trying to figure out how to use the Georgia laws. I can't serve with the papers because I don't have an address for him
    Where was your divorce done? If it wasn't in GA, you'll need to first establish residency, then file to transfer the case to GA. At this point, the only laws that will apply is the laws of the state where the divorce was granted.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    8

    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Georgia

    Quote Quoting Xena
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    Where was your divorce done? If it wasn't in GA, you'll need to first establish residency, then file to transfer the case to GA. At this point, the only laws that will apply is the laws of the state where the divorce was granted.
    The divorce was in Maryland in 2002. I don't see what that has to do with a step parent adoption or name change, why would Maryland laws apply to that. There is no case to transfer to Georgia. I think my first post was misunderstood. I am not in a child custody case. The case that I referred to in Maryland is with the Child Support Enforcement agency. The case there is for them to enfore my child support order. My case that I want to file here in Georgia is for name change and possible step parent adoption. What exactly is establishing residency, I have lived here in Georgia since May, do I need to do something else to establish residency.

  8. #8
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    Jul 2006
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    Florida
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    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Georgia

    Quote Quoting niquern
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    The divorce was in Maryland in 2002. I don't see what that has to do with a step parent adoption or name change, why would Maryland laws apply to that. There is no case to transfer to Georgia. I think my first post was misunderstood. I am not in a child custody case. The case that I referred to in Maryland is with the Child Support Enforcement agency. The case there is for them to enfore my child support order. My case that I want to file here in Georgia is for name change and possible step parent adoption. What exactly is establishing residency, I have lived here in Georgia since May, do I need to do something else to establish residency.
    The divorce was done in MD, which established custody. The CS case is in MD also. All existing orders are in MD, and your ex apparently still lives in MD. That all means that MD courts retain jurisdiction. You will NOT be able to file a NEW case, of ANY type in GA.

    Once you have established legal residency (6 months) you can get a consult with a GA attorney to see if it is possible to transfer the existing cases to GA. Usually the best way to begin to establish residency is to get a GA DL, have utilities in your name, file an official change of address with the post office, etc. Then 6 months later you will have established residency for any legal purposes.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    8

    Default Re: Step Parent Adoption in Georgia

    Quote Quoting Xena
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    Once you have established legal residency (6 months) you can get a consult with a GA attorney to see if it is possible to transfer the existing cases to GA. Usually the best way to begin to establish residency is to get a GA DL, have utilities in your name, file an official change of address with the post office, etc. Then 6 months later you will have established residency for any legal purposes.

    Thanks for clearing up the residency issues. I didn't know about the six month rule, I have done the other things already, so I will wait for the six months. I am still a little confused about the case. So you are saying that I have to have my divorce transferred to Georgia eventhough it was final in 2002? I don't have any open cases in Maryland. I was told that child support could be filed either where the custodial or non-custodial parent lives. In Maryland each county has their own Child Support Enforcement Office. The case was in the county that I lived in and not the county that the NCP lived in. But they closed the case because they weren't able to locate him for the last five years. So I need to have the closed case transferred here to Georgia?

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