Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

Re: Adoption w/o biological parent consent

Depending upon which county you dwell in, after your are married you may petition for adoption of your child by the step-parent. The adoption if granted will result in the child's name being changed and the birth certificate being changed to relect the adoptive parent as one of the parents. If you cannot locate the child's father, you will have to publish notice of the adoption in a newspaper in the town or county he was last known to reside in. Additionally, the putative father registry will be consulted to determine whether he has signed up to be notified under these circumstances. Indiana law provides for termination of a biological parent's rights if support has not been paid over a certain period of time or in the alternative if a parent has not exercised visitation rights when he could of exercised them (meaning that you have not been hiding out to prevent visitation). The sooner you get married, the sooner you can begin this process.

Alternatively you can petition your circuit court to change the child's surname. Again, if a parent does not consent, you can publish notice. There is no magical formula to determine whether a judge would change the name in your situation unless you were married, and then he might wonder why there is not an adoption.