Adopting stepchildren

Felice Webster, Adoption Attorney, shares advice for stepparents looking to stepchild on the proper steps to take and how to make the process run smoothly
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Adopting stepchildren

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Stepparents are able to adopt their stepchildren when they're married or, in California, if they have a domestic partner and they want to provide a permanent home and be the legal parent of that child. The custodial parent of the child would remain the parent of the child, and that person would need to sign a consent to allow their domestic partner or their spouse to adopt their child. The non-custodial parent, that is the other biological or legal parent of the child, they would have to either consent to the adoption or the rights would have to be terminated by the court. Stepparent adoption is relatively a fairly simple procedure but they get complicated if the non-custodial parent does not agree with the adoption plan. So it's important to have a good adoption professional helping out with the adoption to make sure that everything goes smoothly. There's normally a home study that's done on the adopting parent to make sure that they're able to provide adequately for the child.

Felice Webster, Adoption Attorney, shares advice for stepparents looking to stepchild on the proper steps to take and how to make the process run smoothly

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Felice Webster

Adoption Attorney

Felice Webster has been an Adoption Attorney for over 25 years. It is her privilege to help families come together by adoption, both in independent, stepparent, foster parent, and adult adoptions as well as in re-adoptions of internationally adopted children. She is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers. She enjoys being a frequent speaker on adoption and dependency law at adoption seminars and for foster parent agencies. Felice has been married for over 35 years and has two kids.

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Transcription: 
Stepparents are able to adopt their stepchildren when they're married or, in California, if they have a domestic partner and they want to provide a permanent home and be the legal parent of that child. The custodial parent of the child would remain the parent of the child, and that person would need to sign a consent to allow their domestic partner or their spouse to adopt their child. The non-custodial parent, that is the other biological or legal parent of the child, they would have to either consent to the adoption or the rights would have to be terminated by the court. Stepparent adoption is relatively a fairly simple procedure but they get complicated if the non-custodial parent does not agree with the adoption plan. So it's important to have a good adoption professional helping out with the adoption to make sure that everything goes smoothly. There's normally a home study that's done on the adopting parent to make sure that they're able to provide adequately for the child.