Legal Question in Family Law in California

If you and the mother want the child to be yours permenantly, you should do an adoption. The only challenge will be if the father is in the picture and objects. If you want a more temporary arrangment, or one that is open ended but retains the option for the mother to reclaim the child, then you would do a guardianship. Both can be done without a lawyer, but there are a lot of details to handle and the process can get slow and frustrating if you make mistakes or don't understand things. So if you don't want to hire an attorney to handle the whole thing, I suggest you at least retain an attorney in an advisory capacity to keep you pointed in the right direction and handle any questions that come up.

You can either legally adopt the child or obtain a permanent guardianship--you'll likely lean more towards an adoption, but the guardianship is a possibility that you'll want to look into. Either way, you'll need the biological father's permission and a LOT of patience. It's a long, tricky process that seems endless, but it is much easier due to having the mother's blessing. I agree with the previous poster that you may wish to retain an attorney to speed up the process and help you with your sanity, since there is a lot of paperwork and a lot involved.