Hi I was wondering what I would have to do to adopt my neice who calls me mum, I have raised her from 2 weeks old and now she is 16 years of age and she has asked if we can officially adopt her. This has been something she has asked for not coerced by ourselves but I viosly would love to, We have stayed In contact with birth parents and she has contact with both birth family and siblings occasionally as they live in a different state. There are no court papers as such except a statory declaration stating that my neice was given over to me to raise and what date etc, is there any suggestions as to where I should start?
