If you are thinking about adopting a child find how to adopt in California during your free half hour consultation. Give us a call toll free at 1-877-9NEW-LIFE (877-963-9543) and start your new life. Whether it is a stepparent adoption or you are seeking to adopt a child and you are not married we can help. We have offices throughout the Bay Area for your convenience.
Adoption is a very fulfilling and generous gift you can give a child. The most common form of adoption is stepparent adoption. In today’s world there are many families that include children from prior relationships. The non-biological parent often chooses to adopt the children of their spouse. The process of adopting does not have to be complicated and contentious. It really depends upon the biological parent’s involvement with the child. If the biological parent has had no contact with the child for years and will not care if their parental rights are terminated, then the process should be relatively smooth. If the biological parent is involved with the child’s life and wants to be part of the child’s life still the process could become contentious. The biological parent has certain rights as the biological parent that they may not want to give the rights up so easily.
The biological parent must be personally served with the request for adoption and/or the petition to terminate their parental rights. If you do not know the location of the biological parent then service can be executed by publication. Additional fees will be necessary to publish notice for four consecutive weeks. Different newspapers charge different fees for this service and you will have obtain permission from the court to serve the biological parent by publication.
The fee to file a request for adoption right now is $20. There is also an investigator or social worker fee of $350. An investigation will be conducted by the county you are in regarding whether the stepparent or adopting party is fit to adopt the child and the home life of the child will be acceptable.
