Stepparent Adoption

Blended families are more common than ever. It is estimated the 1 in 3 Americans is part of a blended family.

In blended families, a stepparent will often become a large part of a child’s life. But unless the stepparent adopts that child, the stepparent has no legal parental rights and the child’s relationship with that parental figure is not protected.

For this reason, many stepparents will seek to legally adopt their stepchild to make the parent-child relationship official and to create permanence.

Legally adopting your stepchild provides a lot of benefits…

• You gain all the legal rights and benefits that a biological parent has.
• Your child can inherit from you.
• In the event of a divorce, your parental rights to custody and visitation are protected.
• If your spouse dies, your stepchild’s relationship with you is protected.

In North Carolina, you must be married to the biological parent and live with the stepchild for six months before you can adopt your stepchild. Generally, periods of time that you lived together before being married do not count towards the six months. Under some circumstances, the six-month requirement can be excused.

After filing the petition for adoption, several steps are required to ensure that the adoption is in the best interest of the child. These include the following:

Consent from the child if the child is age 12 or older.

In-home visits by a social worker, called post-placement visits, are generally required (although the court can waive that requirement if you have been married to the parent that has custody for at least two years). The purpose is to provide the court with information about your home and your relationship with your stepchild.

Criminal background checks for the adoptive parent

Release of jurisdiction – Generally, if any other state has issued a custody order, that state must release jurisdiction before the adoption can be completed.

Parental Consent – The most common question in a stepparent adoption is “Does the other parent have to consent to the adoption?”

Sometimes parental consent is required for an adoption, and sometimes it is not.

Unfortunately, some parents have never been involved in their child’s life and fail to assume their responsibilities. When a parent fails to seize the opportunity to develop a relationship with their child and meet their parental obligations, then the child may be adopted without the parent’s consent.

If the parent has met their obligations to provide support and be actively and regularly involved in a child’s care and development, then the law will protect that relationship.

Termination of parental rights – Sometimes a parent may have been involved in the child’s life once upon a time, but things changed. Now, they have stopped paying child support, exercising visiting, and being involved in the child’s life regularly.

Broken promises can do more than just hurt feelings. Those parents may be at risk of having their parental rights involuntarily terminated if maintaining that legal relationship is no longer in the child’s best interest.

Every situation is different. Consult an experienced family law attorney about your situation and options for protecting your child.

Contact Our North Carolina Stepparent Adoption Attorney

Stepparent adoptions in North Carolina can be complicated. You need an experienced partner at your side. Bobby Mills has practiced adoption law in North Carolina for over 30 years. Call us today at 919-533-4025.