What Steps Should You Take to Adopt Your Spouse’s Child?

Stepparents often consider their stepchildren to be their “real” children and want to adopt a stepchild. If you want to adopt your spouse’s child from a previous marriage or relationship, you need the insights, legal advice, and services that a Sumner County adoption lawyer can offer.

Adoption happens when someone assumes the legal parenting responsibilities from a child’s biological parent or parents. When you adopt your spouse’s child, your adoption lawyer will help you overcome the legal barriers that stepparents often encounter in the adoption process.

Family law is complicated in the State of Tennessee. An adoption is rarely simple and straightforward in this state, so you must have a Sumner County adoption attorney advising you and protecting your rights from the very beginning of the adoption process.

Why Should a Stepparent Consider Adopting a Spouse’s Child?

There are a number of reasons why a stepparent may consider adopting a spouse’s child from a previous marriage or relationship. These reasons include but are not limited to:

1. Adoption makes a stepparent the child’s legal parent and allows the child’s name to be changed so that it matches the others in the family.
2. In a divorce proceeding, a stepparent who adopted a stepchild is treated like other legal parents. Adoptive parents have the right to custody and/or visitations with the child, and they have a legal obligation to nurture and financially support the child.
3. In Tennessee, if a custodial biological parent passes away, it is probable that the surviving biological parent will be given custody of the child, and a will or a power of attorney is not sufficient to change that likelihood.
4. When biological parents have joint decision-making powers, it may be difficult if the family wants to move away from the noncustodial biological parent or if the family wants to make different choices for their child or children.
5. Adopted children in Tennessee inherit from an adoptive parent just as they would inherit from a biological parent. Stepparents who want to make sure their stepchildren are treated fairly by the courts should seriously consider adoption.

What if a Stepparent Adoption is Contested?

Stepparent adoption is not the addition of a third parent. Because they believe the adoption is in the child’s best interests, many biological parents agree to terminate their parental rights to facilitate adoption by a stepparent. Other biological parents are less cooperative, and a biological parent may contest a stepparent’s adoption of his or her biological child.

In Tennessee, contested stepparent adoptions require a court hearing and require a stepparent to demonstrate why a biological parent’s rights should be terminated. If the stepparent cannot show why a biological parent’s rights should be terminated, the biological parent retains those rights.

Biological parents may require visitations as a condition of consenting to an adoption. In these cases, visitations may be included in the final adoption agreement your Sumner County adoption lawyer will negotiate.

What Steps Should a Stepparent Take?

Stepparents who want to adopt in Sumner County – or anywhere in the greater Nashville area – need to schedule a consultation with a Sumner County adoption attorney. That is the first step. First legal consultations with adoption lawyers are usually provided without cost or obligation.

In Tennessee, stepparents who plan to adopt must complete a mandatory thirty-hour parenting class. Tennessee law also requires a home study. A social worker will inspect your home and will determine if it meets the state’s legal definition of a “suitable” home for a child.

Stepparents who are seeking to adopt a stepchild will also be required to present their financial and medical records. After these steps have been completed, your adoption lawyer will file the appropriate legal paperwork with the court, and the court will then schedule an adoption hearing.

What Happens at a Tennessee Adoption Hearing?

At the adoption hearing, the judge will consider your petition for adoption along with the social worker’s home study report, and the child may also be asked to testify. Under Tennessee law, stepchildren who are age 14 or older cannot be adopted without their sworn statement of consent.

In Tennessee, a child who is younger than 14 may be adopted by a stepparent without signing a sworn statement of consent. However, the court may take into account the child’s preference before it makes a final decision regarding the adoption.

After the adoption hearing, the law in Tennessee gives other relatives of the child ten days to file a challenge to the adoption. If there are no challenges to the adoption, and if there are no other legal issues, the court will hand down its ruling at the end of that ten-day period.

When an adoption becomes final, the noncustodial biological parent is no longer obligated to make child support payments.

Why is It So Important to Have an Adoption Attorney?

Even if an adoption seems straightforward, you will need to retain an adoption attorney to ensure that your legal paperwork is complete and accurate. Unexpected legal issues frequently emerge in adoption proceedings, so you must have a lawyer who can address those problems promptly.

If you are considering adoption and you have questions or concerns, if you are ready now to adopt your stepchild, or if you simply need to learn more about adoption, a Sumner County family law attorney can answer all of your questions or help you start the adoption process.

Garner Law Firm Handles Adoptions and Other Matters of Family Law

Garner Law Firm can answer all of a stepparent’s questions and concerns about adoption. We will explain your rights and walk you through each stage of the adoption process. We know how to resolve the most difficult and complicated family law cases.

Sumner County attorney Patti B. Garner heads up a legal team that advises and guides stepparents who are adopting a stepchild. Garner Law Firm also handles divorces, child custody disputes, and other family law matters.

We bring our extensive legal experience to every case and every client. Learn more, or begin the adoption process immediately by calling Garner Law Firm at 615-502-4336 to schedule a no-cost, no-obligation legal consultation with our family law team.