Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Adopting your stepchild

The court may consider the child's wishes, but really this is a matter between the adults. Since the mother has had no contact and has not paid child support, she may wish to avoid owing money in the future by simply agreeing to allow the adoption. The motion would be brought by you. Hopefully she will be agreeable. If you are in the Orange County area, contact me at (714)321-2144.

Re: Adopting your stepchild

It is quite easy to adopt your stepchild. You would however still need to either get the consent of the natural mother or terminate her rights. That is the difficult part. If the natural mother has not paid support or communicated with the child for 1 year then you can terminate her rights. You would have to serve her with papers to appear in court regarding the termination. It would be easier to try and contact the natural mother and get her consent. If she wont then be prepared to serve her with the termination citation. A child over 12 will have to consent to the adoption but the courts will still require the parent to consent or have their rights terminated. The termination procedure is very tricky and you need to have an attorney help you. A step parent adoption would cost around $1000 but the termination would be extra. That would have to be done on an hourly rate and probably would cost 1500.00 if it was not contested. There is also a filing fee of $22 for the Adoption and an investigation fee that needs to be paid to the state on a sliding scale up to &700.oo. Please email me @ [email protected] if you have any other questions.

John A. Giffen

Re: Adopting your stepchild

Dear Inquirer:

Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client

relationship, unless a written retainer agreement

is executed by the attorney and client. This

communication contains general information only.

Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client

communication nor legal advice. There likely are

deadlines and time-limits associated with your

case; you should contact an attorney of your

choice for legal advice specific to your personal

situation, at once.

If you haven't already done so, please visit my

web site at --

http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR

http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com

The site contains quite a bit of general

information about California Family Law, Tenants'

Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, and EDD

hearings and appeals, as well as information

about me (education, experience, et cetera)

and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

Children 12 years and older must give written consent.

Children 4 years and older will be questioned about

the adoption by the court's investigator. Sounds

as if Mother's parental rights can be terminated

for abandonment or failure to support. Or she may

consent to avoid child support payments.

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with

us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.