Adopt: Ask Our Legal Expert: Diane Michelsen, Esquire

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Legal Expert (continued)

Question:
I am a mother of a five month old girl. I plan to marry my fiance next month, and we are planning to have him adopt her. There is no maternal father on record. What problems might occur through the adoption process, and where do we go to initiate the process? Any additional information you have to give uswould be appreciated and helpful.

Response from Diane Michelsen:

In response to this question, You (the inquirer) have not indicated where you live and this has a significant bearing in giving advise on how to proceed. Adoptions, and step parent adoptions are governed by state laws and in some case local rules. For example, if you live in Califonria, most counties have a local rule that you must be married for at least one year prior to completing (or in some initiating) a step parent adoption. Please check with your county clerk of the Superior Court or the court which grants adoptions to find out if a similar rule applies.

As I mentioned before, adoptions are governed by state laws and these laws also govern father's rights (if any). The fact that there is no father listed on the birth certificate still means that that child had a father and that his rights must be terminated prior to the adoption being granted.

I do not know if if he was your legal husband, if he ever acknowledged paternity, gave support or visited the child. These are important issues when ascertaining what rights, if any, the father has/may have under the laws in your state. In many jurisdictions, this termination of rights may be done by petitioning the court to waive notice and terminate the rights of the father. In other jurisdictions, it may be a simple matter to terminate his rights based upon his not registering in the State Registry.

Publication may be necessary in some states; in others a certain amount of time will need to have passed with the father abstaining from visits and support.

If you live in California, there is an excellent book, published by Nolo Press, called "How to Adopt Your Stepchild". It is updated almost every year, sells for approximately $25.00, and contains the necessary forms.

On the more nuisance than insurmountable problem side, step parent adoptions are usually investigated by an arm of the Court, be it the probation dept, the adoption dept or special investigation section. There is usually a fee for this investigation, ranging from a few dollars toabout $700. Additionally, the investigative agency is often not feeling a time push to complete its investigation since the child is already in the home. So sometimes stepparent adoptions take more than one year to complete. Don't be discourage. A competent attorney can be really helpful. To find a local attorney, you might check the state by state listings of attorneys(scroll to the bottom of the page for your state.

Question:
I am working with a family who recently adopted a baby. The given date of birth is July of 1995. The baby is only between 10 and 12 months of age. They are wondering if there is a way to legally change her date of birth.

Response from Diane Michelsen:
There are procedures for amending the child's birthcertificate in California to conform to proof. In this situation, a letter from the adoption agency will probably suffice. Please contact the Dept of Vital Statistics in Sacramento for more info.