How to adopt child you have custody of?

[Laletta]

The child we would like to adopt has been in our care for 4
years in October. Her mother signed off parental rights when she was
headed into the legal system on an 18 month rider. The father at that
time could not be found and lost his parental right to the child. The
mother has never tried to get the child back and only sees her around
once a month when the child goes to see her great grandmother. The
mother lives 1/2 a block away. After 4 years of raising and loving this
child, my husband and I have decided that is time to adopt her and make
her truly ours. What needs to be done first? We went to court way back
when and were assigned as her legal guardians, we have all rights to her
except to 'legally' call her our daughter. Is there paperwork that we
could do ourselves to save on attorney fees? What kind of fees are we
looking at? What all do we have to go through to make her 'our'
daughter?

[Judge]

You will need to file a Petition for Adoption or similar document in your Court. If the mother and father have relinquished their rights then she is available for Adoption. Fees vary from $750 to $2500.00 depending on how complex it is. Call a few domestic relations attorneys and ask for a range of fees and whether they will give you a free office conference.