40% of marriages in the U.S. today are second marriages for at least one of the partners, and often for both. Many of these marriages result in blended families, as the kids of each spouse live as siblings in the new blended family. One question that can comer up in new blended families: can the parents adopt each other’s children?
The simple answer is yes, each spouse can adopt the other’s children in a stepparent adoption.
How to adopt each other’s children
When each spouse has one or more children from a previous marriage or partnership, each spouse can apply to adopt their spouse’s children. The process of stepparent adoption is no different in this case than it is in the case of one child being adopted by his or her parent’s spouse. It’s a relatively simple legal process.
The husband will apply to adopt his wife’s children in a stepparent adoption. The wife will apply to adopt her husband’s children in a stepparent adoption. The result, if all the adoptions are successful, will be one family with two legal parents and all the children having the same legal relationship with both parents. That is, there is no more “his kids” and “her kids.” All the children are legally “our kids.” They may all take the same last namer and can have new Social Security cards and birth certificates showing the new relationships.
Complications
That’s what happens if all the adoptions are successful. There can be complicating factors:
- If the non-custodial parents refuse to consent to the adoption, the adoption may not take place.
- The children may, if they are 12 years old or older, withhold their consent.
- Siblings or grandparents of the children may have visitation rights or other continuing relationships.
On the other hand, stepparent adoptions may not require a hone study, and adopting multiple children will not require a separate home study for each. At least in this aspect of the adoption journey, stepparent adoptions can be less complicated than other kinds of adoptions.
Heimer Law is an adoption law firm. Contact us for help with any kind of adoption.
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