Ever wondered how a stepparent can legally adopt their stepchild? When I was working in the Allegan County courts, it was a frequent conversation that I had with parents. Either one parent would be asking about how their new spouse could adopt a child or the other parent was asking how to give up their parental rights. Although the process of a stepparent adoption is fairly straightforward, it is a bit more complex than just signing a piece of paper. Here in Ottawa County, stepparent adoptions are a unique legal process that involves a few key steps.
The first step is obvious, both biological parents must be identified and have notice of the proceedings. In most cases identification is straightforward, but notice can be an issue if the biological parents have no contact with each other, haven’t spoken, kept in contact, or know where the other lives.
Let’s assume though that the biological parents do know each other and know where to find one another. To facilitate a stepparent adoption, the biological noncustodial parent must either voluntarily consent to the stepparent adoption or the custodial parent must file a petition with the courts to terminate the noncustodial parent’s parental rights.
Even if the noncustodial parent does consent to the stepparent adoption, it still is not as simple as ‘signing a piece of paper.’ The noncustodial parent must appear before a judge to execute a consent to adopt. Alternatively, if the noncustodial parent does not consent to the stepparent adoption, then the custodial parent must prove two separate statutory grounds.
First, the custodial parent must prove that the noncustodial parent has the ability to support the child, but has failed to provide regular or substantial support for the child over the prior two years. Secondly, the custodial parent must prove that the noncustodial parent had the ability to visit and communicate with the child, but has regularly and substantially failed to do so over the prior two years. Despite these two statutory grounds, the custodial parent and stepparent are not guaranteed to achieve their desired outcome. This is because the court still has full discretion to deny the stepparent’s petition for adoption if they find that it is in the best interests of the child.
If the petition is successful and the noncustodial parent’s parental rights are terminated at the hearing, then the court will enter an order to that effect. The noncustodial parent will have a period of time to file an appeal. If no appeal is filed or if an appeal is unsuccessful, then the adoption will be ready for finalization and closure. As a part of the final order of adoption, the court may order that the adopted child’s name be changed, and along with that a new birth certificate can be created listing the child’s new name and adoptive parents. This final order of adoption will terminate any inheritance rights of the child from the biological parent, but the child will enjoy all the same rights as a natural born child to the adoptive parent.
If you are wondering about a stepparent adoption and would like to talk further, give us a call to see how Parakletos Law can assist you.