M.O.
Hello
It cost my husband and I $955.00 for him to adopt my daughter and it took 1 yr to do. They told me $800 and have it finished within 6 months, but we had some roadblocks in finding her biological dad. We did this all in another state but the laws and procedures were identical to MN. You have to first get the consent of the biological parent and if you cant find them you have to get another form saying you tried everything to find them and couldn't. and they will have to draw up an affidavit of abandonment saying the biological parent has abandoned the child for a period of 1yr. then the present parent has to sign a consent saying they want there child adopted by there spouse (duh!) then they'll file a petition to terminate other parents parental right, yay!! there is a lot of paperwork but hey isn't it worth it in the end? We had a great lawyer who walked us through step by step, I hope you do too. a background check will be done on the adopting parent. Also you'll have to have a petition for stepparent adoption
our list of cost went like this.
Attorney fee: 750.00
Filing fee: 139.00
New birth cert.: 35.00
CBI background check: 13.00
FBI background check: 18.00
I cant remember but if you change there last name i think it's 11.00 for a new ss card, but i could be wrong.
You should be able to contact any Family Lawyer for a free consultation, they will be able to answer all your questions. make sure to ask if they are familiar with step parent adoption and how many they have done. It's your right to get someone knowledgable so if there is a fight you have someone who knows what they're doing=) Good luck and i hope this at least gives you some idea of what your heading into. I also had know idea what to expect but beyond the extra 6 months we waited it was worth it.