Q: My niece wants my husband and I to adopt her unborn baby. Can we do this without hiring a lawyer
Can we file all the necessary paperwork on our own through the court system?
A:
Yes, you can file without an attorney. Here is a link to the CO Courts webpage: http://www.intotolegal.com/upcoming%20Events/Forms.html (look under "adoption"). Your local courthouse (and the webpage) have basic material to assist pro se (w/o attorney) parties.
Turning to the adoption itself. In Colorado, you must have consent of ALL parents (unless a parent(s) has had their parental rights terminated--this is a big deal). If you have consent by both biological parents the adoption process consists of filing some forms and making a court appearance (it will not be a full trial, but the judge will ask the parents if they consent to the adoption, etc). If one or both of the parents does not consent, moving forward with a contested adoption is significantly more difficult and, realistically, you will need to hire an attorney.
Also be aware that Colorado also allows guardianships. Guardianships do not terminate parental rights, but allow the guardians to assume all legal responsibilities of the child. The one downside of the guardianships is that either (or both) parent can move to terminate the guardianship at a later date. Guardianships can be found at the same link above under "guardianship".
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