-By Randall Hicks, Stepparent Adoption Attorney-
If you wish to learn not just about doing a stepparent adoption in Los Angeles County, but an actual review of each specific part of the legal process in adopting a step child, you have come to the right place.
Being adopted by a step parent is one of the most significant moments in a child's life. It means that for the step parent - sharing a home, and being married to the child's parent, wasn't enough - and the step parent wanted to fully take on the role of legal parent. Stepparent adoption also provides legal security in case something were to happen to the existing parent, as without a step parent adoption the step parent has few guaranteed parenting rights. The information below is for those planning to adopt a stepchild in Los Angeles County. (If you live in Orange, Riverside, San Diego or San Bernardino County, please click here.)
Step Parent Adoption in Los Angeles County - How to Adopt a Stepchild Step-by-Step
To file an Adoption Request in Los Angeles County there are a few core requirements. You must be a resident of the county. The stepparent must be married to (or registered domestic partner of) one of the child's parents. And the child must be under the age of 18. (If 18 or over, it is an adult adoption. To learn about that, please visit our Adult Adoption Center website.
All Los Angeles County stepparent adoptions are filed in one particular courthouse
There are twelve district Superior Courts in Los Angeles County handling family law matters. All adoption cases, however, are handled only in the Edmund Edelmen Children Court, which is the county's central children's court. It is located at 201 Centre Park Drive, Monterey Park.
Los Angeles County Requires a Home Study to adopt a step child
A detailed home study, as is done in traditional adoptions (such as adopting a non-relative baby) is not required when you adopt a stepchild. In a step parent adoption there is an "investigation," which involves much less time, paperwork and cost. There are no required "home visits." The assigned agency to do the required step parent investigation is the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (LADCFS). Their fee is $700. There is a relatively new law, however, (which even many attorneys don't know about) which allows the investigation to be done by a licensed private adoption agency. Using a private adoption agency, rather than the county adoption office, is almost always much faster (often taking half the time as compared to LADCFS. The private adoption agency that we will recommend only charges the same $700 fee. So you benefit without any extra cost as the agency fee is set by statute.
IF YOU PREFER TO LEARN BY VIDEO:
There are Many Legal Documents Required in Los Angeles County to Adopt a Step Child
A typical stepparent adoption will involve many legal documents. The basic essential ones are the Adoption Request, Adoption Agreement, two special forms to establish the unique laws of the Indian Child Welfare Act have been complied with, Adoption Order, required Adoption Cover Sheet, Stipulation re Commissioner, VS-44 (Court Report of Adoption), various consent forms, and of course, the report from the adoption agency. If there is an absent parent who will not consent or can't be found, and an action to terminate their parental rights, there are substantially more pleadings and documents.
There are many required consents in a stepparent adoption
The spouse of the adopting parent must sign a consent to the adoption, as well as the absent parent of the child. If they can't be found, or decline to consent, the adoption can't proceed until an action has been completed to terminate their parental rights. This is usually done under California's "abandonment" statutes. If the child being adopted is aged 12 or over, he or she must also sign a consent to the adoption by their stepparent.
The Rights of the Birth Father
In about 95% of stepparent adoptions, the adopting parent is the stepfather and the absent parent is the birth father. Birth fathers' rights are a very complicated legal issue, too much so to discuss in this limited space. The short answer, however, is that there are two legal categories of fathers: alleged or presumed. Their rights vary by which category they are in, with presumed fathers having stronger rights than alleged fathers. There are multiple possible ways to terminate the rights of an absent parent if they can't be found or refuse to consent. (We have an Advanced Q & A page for subjects such as this.)
A Court Hearing is Required to Finalize a Stepparent Adoption
The finalization hearing is formal... but happy, and usually has a celebratory feel. There are no objecting parties and everything is done by this point. It is a private hearing, so only you and your guests, and your attorney, attend. It is so unique as a court hearing that the judge will even pose for a photo with you when your adoption is completed. By the way, we are lucky to have a terrific judge on the bench in the usual court which hears stepparent adoption matters, Commissioner Blackwell. (A commissioner is basically like a judge but nominated to the bench in a different way than judges.) She runs a very efficient courtroom and is quite popular for that reason with both attorneys and the public.
You Will Receive an amended birth certificate
A nice benefit when you adopt a stepchild is you will receive an amended birth certificate. The original is sealed and a new one takes its place. The new one lists the adopting step parent as if he or she is a birth parent (in place of the absent parent). There is no mention of adoption on the birth certificate.
You can even change your step child's name a part of the adoption
Normally to do a name change it involves a legal procedure and is time consuming. But adoption allows you to change your step child's name as part of the adoption process. You can change any aspect of the child's name, not just their last name. You can change a first or middle name as well. Or, of course, some families make no changes at all.
Choosing a Stepparent Adoption Attorney
Perhaps the most important decision you make is the law office you choose (affecting your cost, likely success, and speed of your adoption). Here are some things you may wish to consider:
• Find an attorney with extensive stepparent adoption experience, ESPECIALLY if you will need to bring an action to terminate parental rights of an absent parent. Most general family law attorneys understandably focus almost exclusively on divorce and child custody. They have little real experience in stepparent adoption and its unique complexities.
• Ask how many stepparent adoptions they have done in their career and how many do they do a year? How many abandonment adoptions?
• Check out their reviews on respected attorney review sites like Avvo.com, as well as Google, Yelp, et cetera. What their clients say about them matters, and actually reading the reviews, not just looking at the average rating, can tell you a lot about them.
• Do they charge hourly or by flat fee? Lawyers are sadly infamous for giving you a low retainer fee, then when your case is over you receive an unexpected big bill with the statement, "Things took longer than we thought." Some attorneys will work on a flat fee, so you know the price in advance.
• Ask yourself what you learned during your consultation with them. You will find three types of lawyers: 1) They charge for a consultation; 2) They give you a free consultation but it is skimpy and not informative; or 3) They give you a free consultation that is very detailed and informative, and answers your questions. Many lawyers use their consultation just as a means to try to impress you that you need their services, but spend little time truly explaining the stepparent adoption process and the unique aspects of your case. You should finish a consultation feeling you learned a lot and know your plan of action, and the estimated cost.
• Actually read their retainer. If they use a retainer or fee agreement that is 5-10 pages long, with tiny type, and so complicated that you can't understand it, ask yourself why would an attorney who is supposedly on your side do that to you? Often their retainers only protect themselves, and spend little space actually describing what they do for you. Look for a retainer or fee agreement that an average person can read and understand.
We hope this information has been helpful to you in learning about stepparent adoption. We are here to assist you when you are ready. You can use the buttons below to learn more about us and our services.
