HOW TO ADOPT A CHILD I HAVE CUSTODY OF

If DCS was involved with the placement, it's my understanding they will sometimes help with the adoption. That might be a place for you to start, especially if money is an issue as it is for almost all of us. If it's a private placement and DCS won't help, you would have to file a petition to terminate parental rights of both parents and for adoption. If birth parents will sign off, and especially if you are a blood relative, it can be fairly simple. If birth parents fight, it can be a pretty involved lawsuit. Sometimes people call termination of parental rights the death penalty of Family Court. Birthparents will probably be appointed lawyers and the child will get one. As you can imagine that's a lot of lawyers in a room, and when there are a lot of lawyers in a room things are slow and expensive. Also depending on your circumstances you could contact legal aid, they are called different things depending on your county but if you Google 'legal aid' you should be able to find them and see if they are in a position to help you. Otherwise hire an attorney in your county or nearby with experience in the contested termination of rights cases