How to Adopt a Stepchild in Pennsylvania: Five Crucial Steps.
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· A step parent can adopt the child with consent of their spouse and consent of the child (if the child is over the age of 12). An adopting step parent will be required to submit their criminal history if they have one and may potentially receive a home-visit from the county prior to the court’s approval of an adoption.
Our experienced Pennsylvania adoption team will prepare your filing documents and send them to you ready to sign and file with the court. SIMPLE 3-STEP PROCESS: Complete the questionnaire, then review and sign your Pennsylvania adoption forms, and file with the court. Our step-by-step instructions will help guide you through the process.
– filing a petition to involuntarily terminate parental rights in the case of a contested adoption. – preparing legal documents to be filed with the court. – arranging and accompanying you and your child to your finalization hearing. – obtaining a new birth certificate for your child after finalization.
· Although a stepparent adoption can be less complex than an adoption involving unrelated parties if all parties consent to the adoption, PA stepparent adoption still requires you to file petitions with the court and an adoption hearing is held. If the necessary provisions are not included in the petition, the adoption may not be permitted to proceed.
The costs to adopt a stepchild in Pennsylvania average between $350 to $2,000 for an uncontested adoption depending on whether the family processes the required court documents themselves or hires an attorney.
Schedule a Case Evaluation TodayGetting Parental Consent.Submit a Stepparent Adoption Petition.Attend Adoption Court Hearings.Finalize the Adoption.Apply for a New Birth Certificate.Call or Contact a Pennsylvania Divorce Attorney Today.
A step parent can adopt the child with consent of their spouse and consent of the child (if the child is over the age of 12). An adopting step parent will be required to submit their criminal history if they have one and may potentially receive a home-visit from the county prior to the court's approval of an adoption.
Follow these steps to file for an adoption:Fill out the forms. You have to fill out at least 4 forms to start your case, maybe more.File the forms. Turn in your completed forms by mail, efiling, or in person to the Clerk of Court.Give documents to the judge and the Child Welfare Agency.
Applying for an adoption order If you are not married to the child's parent, you need to satisfy the court that you are living as partners in an enduring family relationship.
If you and your spouse choose to complete a stepparent adoption, there are certain steps required:Contact an adoption attorney at The Law Offices of Denise M. Bierly to get started.Gather necessary paperwork and obtain parental consents.Submit a stepparent adoption petition.Attend a finalization hearing.
All stepparent adoptions require the noncustodial parent's rights to be terminated, whether through their own consent or through an involuntary termination completed by the court. In a stepparent adoption without consent, this process is legally complicated and must be completed by an adoption attorney.
An agency or representative of the child may also file a petition for involuntary termination of parental rights against both parents if there is evidence that both parents are unfit to be the child's parent. A court will then evaluate a long list of factors in making a determination as to a parent's parental rights.
Adoption laws historically have varied from state to state, but are becoming more uniform. Pennsylvania adoption laws allow any child and only certain adults to be adopted, while any unmarried adult, unmarried minor parent of adoptee, or married couple may adopt.
If a father is not named on the birth certificate, they have no legal rights regarding their child. However, the father can enter into a Parental Responsibility Agreement with the mother, which would give the father the same rights as the mother, or the father can apply to court for a Parental Responsibility Order.
While you cannot legally surprise your stepparent with the actual adoption, you can certainly make approaching the subject a special occasion. Pick out a beautiful card, serve a professionally decorated cake, or take your stepparent out to dinner.
You may be disqualified from adopting a child if you are viewed as too old, too young, or in a bad state of health. An unstable lifestyle could also disqualify you, as well as an unfavorable criminal background and a lack of financial stability. Having a record of child abuse will also disqualify you.
A parent can voluntarily terminate his or her rights with respect to a child. Many voluntary terminations occur when there is a parent who is not involved in the child’s life. A voluntary termination of parental rights also effectively terminates any support obligation that the terminating parent may face.
A step parent can adopt the child with consent of their spouse and consent of the child (if the child is over the age of 12). An adopting step parent will be required to submit their criminal history if they have one and may potentially receive a home-visit from the county prior to the court’s approval of an adoption.
In Pennsylvania, if the child is 14 years or older, the child will sign a consent to adoption. When absent parent's whereabouts or identity are unknown: It is fairly common that the absent parent's whereabouts are unknown. It is also fairly common that the biological father's identity is unknown.
You must be a resident of the State of Pennsylvania for 6 months prior to filing your adoption. The adoption is filed with the Probate Court in the county where you reside. Consent of Absent Parent: Most of the adoptions we help families complete are not able to get the consent of the absent parent.
If the other parent is willing to sign a consent, that will make the adoption easier, but if the absent parent has abandoned the child, then you can do the adoption without the father’s consent.
An adult adoption can be finalized as soon as 45-60 days. Start your Stepparent Adoption. Join thousands of families who have successfully completed their stepparent adoption.
It is also fairly common that the biological father's identity is unknown. In both situations, you can still complete the stepparent adoption.
You can file with confidence. THE ADOPTION PROCESS IN PENNSYLVANIA. The court wants the child to have the unity and security of a two-parent home, and when the absent parent is not active in the child’s life, then the court will do the adoption without the consent of the other parent.
The adoption can be completed without the absent parent's consent if that parent has abandoned the child. Abandonment is when the other parent has not any substantial contact for the past 12 months. Consent of child: In Pennsylvania, if the child is 14 years or older, the child will sign a consent to adoption.
This makes stepparent adoption much simpler than many other forms of adoption. In fact, most families can finalize within 60–90 days of beginning the process.
Most importantly, stepparent adoption can be a powerful emotional symbol of your love and commitment to your stepchild. By formalizing your relationship, you can provide a sense of stability and finality to everyone in your family, especially your child.
For these families, the last step toward permanence is to formalize their relationship with a stepparent adoption.
If you are not biologically related to your child, you have very few, if any, legal rights regarding him or her.
1. What is a Stepparent adoption? An individual becomes a stepparent when he or she marries a person who has a child from a previous marriage or relationship. However, the stepparent is not the legal parent of the child just because of the marriage.
It actually involves two hearings. The first to terminate the rights of the other parent, either though his or her consent or involuntarily. The second is the hearing to finalize the adoption.
A thorough and well documented search must be made to try and find the other parent. This may include an online search, checking the paternity registry, contacting voter registration, contacting mutual friends, etc. If the judge determines that appropriate effort has been made to locate the other parent, notice through newspaper publication may be required.
If he or she has signed a written consent to the adoption does not have to attend the hearing.
Yes. In most counties the stepparent must obtain Pennsylvania Child Abuse, Pennsylvania Criminal History and FBI Fingerprint clearances.
The adoption will terminate future support obligations of the birth parent whose rights are terminated. However, past due obligations are not discharged and can still be pursued as long as there is an outstanding court order for the support.
The adoption attorney at The Law Offices of Denise M. Bierly can provide all of the necessary services for adopting a stepchild in Pennsylvania. Your legal counselor will guide you through the steps to adopting a stepchild and explain how to file for stepparent adoption with our legal help.
This documentation is instrumental in proving a relationship between a stepparent and a stepchild and that a stepparent is truly ready to take on the responsibilities of adopting their stepchild.
The final step in how to adopt a stepchild is the finalization hearing, which you may or may not need to attend. If there was no preliminary hearing, a judge will ask certain questions about the adoption and the child will give their consent to be adopted, if applicable.
Attend any necessary preliminary hearings. Once the petition is filed, your local court and your adoption attorney will work together to schedule any necessary hearings. All stepparent adoption processes require a finalization hearing, but certain adoptions may require an additional preliminary hearing, as well.
A child cannot have three legal parents, so while the spouse of the stepparent will retain their parental rights, a stepparent adoption must terminate the rights of the child’s noncustodial parent to be finalized. Your adoption attorney will work with you to complete this step, by either obtaining the noncustodial parent’s consent ...
A stepparent adoption in Pennsylvania does not require an adoption home study or any post-placement visits. However, another important part of the step-parent adoption process is obtaining adoption consents from the child’s other legal parent.
After an adoption certificate is issued, stepparents can apply for a new birth certificate for the child, if desired. The Law Offices of Denise M. Bierly can help you obtain this document, which can change the child’s name and list the stepparent as his or her parent.
No, you are not required to use a lawyer for a stepparent adoption. However, Florida adoption laws have changed almost every year with major changes occurring in 2008 and 2012.
You can try to handle the adoption without an attorney but adoption laws in this country are generally complex and if you do not follow the law of your state to the letter, you could run into problems. You are always better off hiring a lawyer. More
You should definitely retain an attorney and I would agree that the $2,500 is a reasonable estimate. I would call two or three adoption attorneys and some attorney take payment plans and many law offices also accept credit cards. This type of case is one that you want to insure is done correctly. Best of luck to you.
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Pennsylvania Adoption Statute and Law Title 23: Domestic Relations Part III. Adoption Chapters 21,23,25,27,29
Relinquish means your are voluntarily giving up the child. Both parents have to voluntarily relinquish or have involuntary TPR done by a judge in court. The birthparents rights have to be terminated by a judge before you can begin the process to adopt. Usually an adoption agency handles the TPR signing. With an independent adoption, you have to have an attorney. First they will locate the birthmom & have her sign consent. Then they will attempt to locate the birthfather. If they don't know the whereabouts of the birthparents, they will have to make some kind of attempt to locate them. Usually it means sending a certified letter to the last known address, they can contact motor vehicles for address on a driver's license, and/or put a notice in newspapers in the areas where the birthparents might be living. If no one comes forward, the judge will usually TPR the parents based on abandonment and then you can adopt. The judge will need a homestudy since you are adopting a child who is not a relative of yours. You should contact an agency in your area to start the whole homestudy process so you can begin the adoption once the TPR is done. With my older daughter, I didn't need an attorney to file adoption parents with DC courts. However, the TPR & homestudy had to be completed by an agency before I could file to adopt. With my younger daughter, I adopted through an agency & still needed an attorney to file for adoption.
The first step the lawyer told us about the process was to file an "intent to adopt" letter with the court. It was a formal letter that had detailed information about the child, us, bios, etc. Additionally, attached to the letter of intent had to be a copy of our child abuse clearances and a homestudy.