Stepparent Adoptions
High touch, compassionate care.
At the Rainwater Firm, our attorneys have experience helping stepparents adopt their spouse’s children. We can help you consider if this step is right for your family. The most important — and sometimes most difficult — step in this process is to obtain an agreement from the child’s other birth parent. If consent cannot be obtained, other factors may be considered in terminating the parental rights of a birth parent.
Has the birth parent been accused of any of the following?
- Not paying court-ordered child support
- Child abandonment
- Child neglect
- Being an unfit parent due to mental health or substance abuse issues
The situation could be straightforward if the birth parent has participated in any of the above in Texas. However, adoption can be a difficult time for a birth parent because they lose all parental rights when they give consent.
We will help you analyze the situation and create a strategy to work with the parents in pursuit of a resolution in the child’s best interest. Our team will use negotiation or litigation to seek termination of the other parent’s rights.
Because the stepparent and the child are already in the same family via marriage, once consent has been given the adoption process can be less complicated than expected. Our team will work to help this exciting change go smoothly and quickly for your family.
