Stepparent Adoptions
What do you need to know about the overall process of a stepparent adoption?
There are a myriad of reasons that a child may have only one parent in his or her life. Perhaps a mother or father has tragically passed away, or a biological parent has abandoned the child with the other parent such that they have not participated in any meaningful way in the child’s life. Many times in these situations, the biological parent remaining in the child’s life will find a new partner, and marry that partner. This marriage results in the creation of a stepparent-stepchild relationship. It’s a wonderful blessing for the child to have an additional person in their life to love, care for, and support the child and their father or mother, and to provide an additional source of love a familial bond. While many married couples in these situations simply maintain the stepparent-stepchild relationship, many others wish to recognize under the law the love and bond that exists between the stepparent and the child by way of the stepparent legally adopting the child. How is this accomplished? What do you need to know before starting the process? What about the other birth parent? Here we provide a brief overview of the process, but each case is very factually specific, and if you are interested in learning more about whether a stepparent adoption would be appropriate for your family, you can schedule a consultation with one of our family law attorneys to discuss your options.
HOW DOES THE OTHER BIRTH PARENT FIT IN?
The law presumes that each child has at least two parents with constitutionally recognized parental/custodial rights, and that those parents are entitled to maintain those parental rights absent extenuating circumstances. Therefore, before any stepparent adoption can take place, it must be shown that either: (1) the child has only one legally recognized parent; (2) one of the birth parents has passed away such that only one parent possesses custodial rights; or (3) the other parent’s parental rights should be, or have already been, terminated.
If the other parent is still alive, and has been determined to be the parent of the child either by way of a court proceeding, through a Declaration of Paternity at the child’s birth, or has been legally recognized as the parent of the child in some other way, that parent’s parental rights must first be terminated before a child can be freed for adoption by a stepparent. Termination can either occur by way of a consent to termination by that parent, or by way of a Judicial Order terminating those rights in a court proceeding. Both methods of termination have their own specific legal requirements, and statutory grounds, and you should consult with one of the family law attorneys in our office to see if termination of parental rights is appropriate in your specific case.
It should be noted and considered, that if the parent whose parental rights are being sought to be terminated objects to the termination, the Court can order an investigation and the parent is entitled to court appointed counsel to assist them in opposing the termination of their parental rights.
WE ARE READY TO ADOPT, WHAT’S NEXT?
Once the law recognizes that there is only one custodial parent of a child, the child is now free to be adopted by a stepparent. This requires a separate Request for Adoption to be filed with the Court in the county in which the child resides. With this request, a consent to adoption by the parent retaining custodial rights (i.e., the child’s remaining parent/the spouse of the adoptive parent) will also be submitted.
Once the appropriate documents requesting the adoption are filed with the Court, the Court will set a hearing date at which the adoption will take place. Between the date of filing and the date of the hearing, the County will conduct an investigation into whether the adoption is recommended and appropriate. This will typically involve a county investigator talking to the stepparent/prospective adoptive parent, the parent retaining custodial rights, the child, if they are old enough to be questioned, any siblings of the child (i.e., children of the adopting parent), and if parental rights of the other parent have not yet been terminated the investigator may speak with that parent as well. The investigator will then make a report and recommendation as to whether it is in the child’s best interest to be adopted, and this report and recommendation will be submitted to the Court for its review at the adoption hearing. If the recommendation is not in favor of adoption, there may be a further contested hearing regarding this before the Court.
If the recommendation is in favor of the adoption and all appropriate documents have been filed with the Court, at the adoption hearing the Court Order of Adoption will be signed by the Judge, and additional document finalizing the adoption will be submitted to the Court. If you so choose, a new birth certificate can be requested that reflects the adopting stepparent’s name as the parent of the child.
WHAT EFFECT DOES LEGALLY ADOPTING MY STEPCHILD HAVE?
Adoption creates all the rights and responsibilities for the stepparents as they would have if they were there natural parent. This means the child is now legally recognized as the stepparent’s child, and the stepparent becomes legally obligated to support the child, and ensure their health, safety, and welfare. It also creates the legal rights for the child to inherit as a natural child under California’s probate laws, and laws of intestate succession if the stepparent passes away without a will, trust, or other estate planning document in place.
Termination of the other parent’s parental rights, stops the obligation of the other natural parent from paying ongoing child support for the child’s care.
More specific questions about this and the legal effects of a stepparent adoption can be answered by our family law attorneys.
CONCLUSION
Stepparent adoptions are an amazing blessing to a child who has formed a bond with a parent’s new partner, and they allow a relationship and bond that exist in reality to be recognized legally as well. If you have questions about whether a stepparent adoption is appropriate or possible for your family, please call our office and set up a consultation with our family law attorneys to assist you with answering those questions.