Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Stepfather Adoption

Before your husband can adopt your children you will need to have the agreement of the children's fathers to relinquish their parental rights. This is not the same thing as an agreement to give you full custody, since even when you have custody the father has some rights as a parent. If the fathers give up their parental rights, your husband can then petition the court to adopt the children. There will be a brief hearing in the Circuit Court, and unless there is some impediment you haven't mentioned, the adoptions will be granted. The biological fathers will then have no rights or responsibilities as fathers, except for the payment of any child support arrears. A parent can not avoid the obligation to pay past-due child support by giving up his rights, but he will have no further obligation. The children will be, legally, as fully the children of your husband as if he were their biological parent. The adoption process in your situation is, if the fathers agree, fairly simple, but you should retain an attorney to handle it.