Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico

Attorney fees are not set by law or court rule. Attorney fees are negotiated between clients and attorneys. Therefore, the portion of costs associated with attorney fees is not a question that can be answered by the Guru. There are certain costs associated with an adoption: there is the court filing fee, psychological report fees, criminal background check fees and other smaller costs and fees associated with the adoption. Since the bio-father will have to be noticed and since there is probably a court order address his child support obligation you will need to provide the "true original copy" of the prior court order over your step-daughter. The process is set forward in the children's code and if you search the statutes in NM for step parent adoption you will see the law and what is required.

There are plenty of family law attorneys in your 'zip code' area who are well qualified to do this adoption for you. Step parent adoptions are not overly complicated but they are, as is any adoption, strictly set forth in the law about the steps to follow. To that end, adoptions take a lot "man hours" in typing, gathering info and documents and making at least 2 court hearings. The primary expense is because these take a LOT of time for the lawyer.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Law Guru