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Oftentimes, the cost of a stepparent adoption in Nebraska causes families to look for other options to complete it. One of the options that are frequently researched is completing the stepparent adoption without the help of an adoption lawyer. If you are researching how to do your Nebraska stepparent adoption yourself, this is for you.

One question to keep in mind, as you are considering doing a stepparent adoption by yourself is how much not doing the stepparent adoption is actually costing you emotionally. You’re probably worried about what will happen to your child if something happened to you and how this will affect your husband in the long run.

Keep these in mind as you are considering doing a stepparent adoption yourself and without an adoption lawyer’s help.

Can you do your Nebraska stepparent adoption by yourself

Similar to other things in life, if you really want to do your stepparent adoption yourself, you probably can…if you learn all the Nebraska adoption statutes, understand them, and know how to apply them properly to your specific situation.

If you’ve been researching for stepparent adoption forms online, chances are you have not found anything right? This is because every stepparent adoption situation is unique.

For example, let’s imagine in one case, that the biological parents of the child were married, are now divorced, and the mother is remarried to the stepfather.

And now let’s imagine, in another case, that the biological father of the child is not listed on the birth certificate.

In these examples, the stepparent adoption forms needed to complete those stepparent adoptions will be very different from each other because of the unique situation in each case. Any other factors that may be present, such as a child support order, will change the way the adoption forms are drafted.

Because adoption forms are customized to each family’s unique situation, you will not be able to find “one size fits all” adoption forms online.

In Nebraska

One of my past clients attempted to do her stepparent adoption herself. She informed me that when she went to the Douglas County Courthouse and asked the clerks for adoption papers, she was advised to speak with an adoption lawyer.

This is because there are no sample adoption forms that can be picked up at the courthouse. An adoption lawyer must draft all the adoption forms and file them with the appropriate court.

Terminating Constitutional Rights

Another thing to keep in mind as you are considering doing a stepparent adoption yourself is that a stepparent adoption essentially terminates the constitutional right of a parent to their child and gives someone else that right. This is not a small matter.

If you do the stepparent adoption yourself, and the stepparent adoption forms are not filled out or filed properly, the judge will likely not allow you to move forward with the adoption. Even if by some chance, you were able to successfully complete the stepparent adoption yourself, and for whatever reason, a possible biological father was not notified of the adoption, that father could annul the adoption by simply showing that he was never notified of the adoption.

Small errors in adoption cases lead to annulments.

Conclusion

Without in-depth knowledge of Nebraska adoption laws, the process of self-filing can be frustrating and is guaranteed to be riddled with legal errors that could cause the adoption to be overturned in the future. For this reason, it is highly advisable to hire an experienced adoption lawyer to facilitate your stepparent adoption in Nebraska.

Ready to start your stepparent adoption? Book your call today!