Stepparent Adoption in Alabama

1. You are legally married to the child’s legal parent. The Alabama Adoption Code makes no exception for unmarried longterm couples who are living together. 

2. The minor child is under the age of 19. (If he/she is 19 or older, we can discuss Adult Adoption)

You must obtain consent from both of the legal parents, or ask the Court to make a finding of implied consent. Implied consent can be shown where a parent has abandoned a child. I can usually convince the Court to make this finding if the parent has not had contact with or provided support to the child in six months.

• Regardless of the abandonment, we still have to make serious, deliberate effort to try to locate the parent and notify them of the adoption proceedings.
• A common question I get asked: what if they oppose it? I have had this happen in a stepparent adoption. The case gets removed to the juvenile court for a hearing on Termination of Parental Rights for the abandoning parent. If we win in juvenile court, then we go back to probate court to handle the adoption. It is very important to have an attorney who has experience handling these cases from the very beginning to succeed in juvenile court.

3. If the minor child is age 14 or over, you must obtain his or her consent.

4. The adoptive parent must have resided with the minor child for a period of at least one year prior to filing the adoption petition.

If you meet these requirements and are interested in learning more about the process, give us a call at 256-600-8090. I have helped several stepparents formally legalize the relationship they already have with their stepchild.

I am currently accepting clients in the following counties: Calhoun, Cleburne, Cherokee, Talladega, Etowah, Marshall, Blount, Jefferson, St. Clair, Dekalb, Madison, and Jackson.