Rick Thorburn has indicated he'll plead guilty to murdering Queensland schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, whose birth mother is New Zealand-born.
His lawyer, Adam Guest, told the Brisbane Supreme Court today that the matter would not go to trial as planned.
Thorburn will instead enter a plea on May 25 to murdering his 12-year-old foster daughter and disposing of her body.
Tiahleigh's body was found on the banks of the Pimpama River on the Gold Coast six days after she went missing while in the care of Thorburn and his family in October 2015.
Thorburn, who was not in court today, will also plead guilty to a charge of perjury relating to lies he told about the young girl's disappearance, Mr Guest said.
A pre-trial hearing later this week where Thorburn was expected to seek a judge-only trial because of publicity around the high-profile case has been cancelled.
Thorburn remains in custody and is facing a life sentence for the murder.
Tialeigh's biological mother, New Zealand-born, Cindy Palmer, pledged in 2016 that her daughter's death will not be in vain.
Ms Palmer thanked police for their tireless work throughout the 11-month investigation into her daughter's murder and said the time had come to get "justice for Tiahleigh".
Mr Thorburn's son and Tiahleigh's foster brother, 20-year-old Trent Thorburn, was jailed in September last year for incest, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice, the ABC reports.
Rick Thorburn's wife Julene Thorburn was sentenced to 18 months in jail for perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice over Tiahleigh's death.
Mr Thorburn's other son Joshua also pleaded guilty to perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
1 NEWS had this report on the case in September 2016:
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