Adoption establishes a legal parent-child relationship when the adoption parent is not the child’s biological mother or father. Once an adoption takes place, the adopting mother and/or father have all the legal rights and responsibilities of a parent-child relationship as natural birth parents would have.
An adoptive parent can be a stepparent or domestic partner of either the biological mother or father, a relative of the child who has been caring for the child, or even someone no related to the child.
A stepparent or domestic partner adoption requires the following:
- The spouse or domestic partner of the child’s parent wants to adopt the child; and
- The couple is legally married or are registered domestic partners.
Ask yourself these questions first:
- Was I, as the parent that is trying to adopt, in a marriage or domestic partnership with the biological parent at the time the child was born?
- Am I still married to the biological parent of the child I want to adopt?
If your answer to the two questions above is “yes”, the kind of adoption case you have is a stepparent adoption to confirm parentage. This is the simplest type of adoption as it does not require a social worker to do an investigation or report and you will not need to go to court for an adoption hearing.
If you are doing a stepparent adoption to confirm parentage, you need to complete the following:
- Adoption Request
- Adoption Agreement
- Adoption Order
- Declaration Confirming Parentage in Stepparent Adoption
Have your forms completed (or at least reviewed) by an attorney. This ensured that the forms were filled out property and will not be rejected or cause problems down the line. Once reviewed, file your forms with the court clerk along with the filing fee.
If you would like assistance in filing for a stepparent adoption, please do not hesitate to contact me:
Lovette T. Mioni, Esq.
Mioni Family Law
4640 Admiralty Way, Ste. 500
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Phone: (424) 259-1770