If you’ve chosen to expand your role as a stepparent and want to legally adopt your stepchild, there are a few steps you’ll need to follow before it becomes finalized.
- Obtain Consent: each birth parent needs to consent to the adoption in order to move forward. In certain specific situations, you may not need consent. Contact Skinner & Associates, LLC today to discuss whether these exceptions apply to your case.
- Hire us!: during this entire process, you’ll want an attorney who is well versed in this specific type of law. This will make the entire process easier on you and your family.
- Obtain all required legal forms: when the time comes, you’ll need to obtain all pertinent legal forms, which is something Skinner & Associates, LLC can assist you with.
- Submit all required paperwork: after you’ve worked with your attorney to correctly fill out all required paperwork, your attorney will submit it to the correct Probate Court in the proper county to get it processed.
- Wait to hear about your court date: after you’ve submitted all your paperwork, a case worker will conduct a home visit. The court will set a hearing, usually a few months out. Your hearing will be held by a judge or magistrate. Your attorney will prepare you for this hearing. At the end of the hearing, the judge will give their ruling. If they approve the adoption at this hearing, the adoption will be finalized and an adoption certificate will be issued.
If you want to adopt your stepchild and need the help of experienced attorneys, contact Skinner & Associates today at 614-664-0200 to schedule a phone consultation. We practice in many areas of family law, and are here to help you through the process. You can also visit our website at www.skinnerattorneys.com to learn more about our areas of practice.
The information at the Skinner & Associates, LLC website is intended for general informational purposes only and not as specific legal advice. Use of this site is not intended to and does not in any way establish an attorney-client relationship. Visitors to this site should seek professional legal counsel regarding their specific matters. Attorneys at Skinner & Associates, LLC would be pleased to speak with interested parties, but we can only represent clients where we are licensed to practice, and where no other bar to representation exists. If the information provided by this website does not comply with the legal or ethical requirements of a particular user’s state or country, we may be unable to represent you. Although we are a general practice law firm, we may be considered a debt relief agency because we help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
References
https://family.findlaw.com/adoption/stepparent-adoption-faq-s.html
https://www.parents.com/parenting/adoption/facts/stepparent-adoption/