My husband is wanting to adopt my 12 year old daughter. He has been "Daddy" for 10 years. My daughter see's her bio occaisionally, but they don't have a father/daughter relationship. Her bio has agreed to let my husband adopt her because he agrees that he hasn't been "dad" for all those years. He isn't a bad guy just has his priorties all wrong. My question is, do we need to retain a lawyer. I have contacted adoption agencies and they have all pretty much said that it is so complicated that having a lawyer is almost a necessity. I tried contacting my county courthouse and they were no help. I am afraid of calling a lawyer and asking because of course they will say of course i want your money. We aren't poor, but we are a typical 2 income family living paycheck to paycheck, with not much xtra. (we just bought our first home last year) so any info would be wonderful.. Thank you all for your help in advance.

