Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Adoption

For step parent adoptions, you will need the consent of the biological father, or you will need to bring an action to terminate his parental rights. The difference in difficulty between these two methods for you is like the difference between walking down the street and walking down the street while pulling a city bus with one hand.

If your daughter's father is in the picture and wants to remain there and there is nothing outlandishly wrong with him that would allow a court to terminate his rights, then you will have a difficult time. If on the other hand he is amenable to terminating his parental rights (and duties, such as for child support) then it becomes a much easier process for you to go through.

Either way, I highly recommend for adoptions that you use an attorney. If you at least would like a telephonic consultation at no charge, feel free to e-mail me directly or call and we can set something up.