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| | I'm interested in having my new spouse adopt my child. |
In general, stepparents cannot adopt their stepchildren without the legal consent to the adoption of the biological parent, unless a parent has died. Non-custodial parents – including those who don’t support or visit their children – still have legal rights.
In most states, a stepparent can adopt his or her stepchild in the following situations:
- If the other parent is absent because of death.
- If the absent or non-custodial parent gives written, legal consent to the adoption.
- If the parental rights of the absent or non-custodial parent are terminated in court.
- If the other parent has abandoned the child.
- If your stepchild was abandoned.
Most states have their own legal definitions of abandonment and support, so stepparents who want to adopt their stepchildren should seek competent legal advice and retain an attorney before adopting.
Because adoption is a court process, the parental rights of the non-custodial parent must be terminated and you will have to file a petition to adopt your stepchild.
A standard adoption petition generally includes five pieces of information:
- The full name, age and address of the adoptive parent.
- The relationship between the adoptive parent and the child to be adopted.
- The legal reason that the birthparent's rights are being terminated, usually that they consented to the termination.
- A statement that the adoptive parents are the appropriate people to adopt the child.
- A statement that the adoption is in the child's best interests.
Typically, the written consent of the non-custodial parent or the court order terminating their parental rights is also filed along with the petition. In some cases, the stepparent will also file a request for an official name change for the child at the same time.
In some states, requirements for an adoption "home study" will be waived. In others, you will have to go through the same, or a similar, adoption process that non-relative adopters must go through. In most cases, however, the waiting periods for non-relative adopters are not imposed. So as soon as you have consent to adopt, the adoption can usually be finalized.
If you need to obtain the services of an attorney to assist you in an agreed adoption by a step parent and are interested to see what kind of services we have available for you to use, click
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