Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Can my now wife adopt my three boys, since their mother left them to me and moved to California and has not paid child support or seen them in over a year?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Step-parent adoptions are pretty common and are not all that difficult. Adoption is a two step process. First, the parental rights of the children's mother must be terminated. Next, the step-parent adopts the children. Termination of parental rights can be by agreement or it can be for "cause". There are several reasons set out in the Family Code. Adoptions require a home study and, in some counties, also require an ad litem to represent the children. It seems to me that each county does these a little differently. You should sit down with a family law attorney in your county and talk through the process.