Adoption

I have had Joint Managing Conservators over my nephew since 2008. He lived in Tx and I have always lived in Illinois. My brother has not talked to him for over a yr has not seen him in 3 yrs. His mother calls in maybe every 6 months has not seen him in 3 yrs they are divorced now. My brother has got married and the mother is in a relationship with a guy. My husband and I would like to adopt him with all this going on with the dad and mom. I think this is the child's best interest for him. He was 3 and is now 6 and doing very well. The yr before the child came to live with us his grandma had temporary sole managing conservator for a one half yr. And before that he had been placed in foster care. I need to know were to start. Some say I need to change the jurisdiction to Illinois. I just want to make him safe. As you can see they have not raised him thru most of his life either foster care or grandma has had him then I have had him for last 3 yrs (I know it sounds bad using child but I don't want to use names). Oh they both signed the the court reports for us to have him.

If a parent does not show interest in a child, how can a step-parent be given the parental rights?

Question: What does it mean to file a motion and order to unseal adoption records?

I discovered that I had a 12 year old daughter that I was unaware of until she was taken from her mother by protective services. The mother then claimed me as father. I requested DNA testing which confirmed my parentage. I fought for custody for over a year and the court made it nearly impossible for me to establish a relationship despite my attempts. This ran me almost to bankruptcy and caused me problems at work due to the amount of time missed to fulfill court orders. I was basically forced to agree to allow her adoption and even paid for and provided an attorney to a woman who agreed to adopt in the courtroom. She has since kept my money, refused to adopt and has now applied for and been granted child support in the amount of $481 monthly after not following through with the court approved adoption agreement. What recourse do I have?

This question is for my daughter Sarah. When she was in college she had a little girl, my grandaughter Izabelle. Sarah has since married and has additonal children, her husband would like to adopt Izabelle, however when Sarah contacted him he refused to give up his rights? His name is name is on her birth cert, but he had no legal rights. At first the court had set an amt for him to pay which he did from time to time. He moved out of state without contacting Sarah, he came home for Christmas when Izabelle was 3 she is now almost 8 he has not seen her since she was three, which was a brief visit. All of the legal business is in the state of Il. My question is does he have any rights? He does not seem interested in seeing her or knowing her, Sarah has not even told Izabelle about her bio father. She just thinks Sarah's husband is her daddy.