DELAWARE STEPPARENT ADOPTION
Step-parent adoptions are among the most common form of adoption in the United States and create stability for children. Our highly experienced staff is dedicated to helping facilitate the adoption of step-children. A step parent adoption, typically resulting from a marriage between people with children, The adoption is by a stepparent who assumes financial and legal responsibility for his/her spouse’s child(ren), and the non-custodial parent is released from all parenting responsibilities. These types of adoptions are generally simpler than other types of adoption and usually problem free. Stepparent adoption law varies from state to state. We guarantee that your stepparent adoption documents will be accurate and that all courts will accept it for filing as meeting or exceeding their standards, or you get 100% of your money back.
When the stepparent adoption is finalized by the Court, your adopted child will receive a new birth certificate, showing the new parent listed on the birth certificate, and also showing the child’s new name.
Before you file a Petition for Adoption in your state you must be able to establish that you have been a resident of the state for six months prior to the date that you file. This information must be included in your filing, and proof of residency, such as a driver’s license, must be presented and proved at the final hearing
Grounds for the termination of parental rights.
The most common grounds for termination of parental rights in a stepparent adoption involve: Natural parent is deceased. Abandoned the child or children, Failure to provide any support the child whether financial or emotional support for six months prior to filing date of this petition with the courts. Imprisonment, Abuse and a few other grounds. Each state’s set of grounds is different and we at Dependable Adoption have the highly experienced staff that will help you through the process. The natural father will have no rights if one or more of the above requirements have been met.
In Delaware, the absent parent has given implied consent to adoption or relinquishment pursuant to Section 26-10A-9 as outlined below:
The absent parent has abandoned the child, failing to offer financial or emotional support for a period over 6 months from the filing of this petition.
the absent parent has not given child support and without communication, or otherwise not maintaining a parental relationship with the child for a period of over 6 months from the filing of this petition.
The natural father failed to comply with Section 26-10C-1, which deals with the putative father.
DELAWARE COURT ADDRESSES.
Our documents are for the entire STATE OF DELAWARE
You must file the adoption documents in the Superior Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are below:
Kent County Family Court: 400 Court Streets, Dover, DE 19901
New Castle County Family Court: 500 North King Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
Sussex County Family Court: 22 The Circle, Georgetown, DE 19947
COURT FILING FEE
The court filing fees for an adoption in Delaware is about $50 the publication fee is approximately $65.
SERVING THE ABSENT PARENT.
Many of our client’s ex-partners are willing from the start to sign there parental right away. This is good as the court will know that all parties agree to the stepparent adoption. The remaining client’s either are not sure where the other parent is, or the other parent just won’t sign any documents for whatever selfish reason they may have. The only option for this is to file the adoption petition with the courts and serve the other parent as we have stated below.
1.Whereabouts of the other parent is UNKNOWN:
If you don’t know and can’t find the absent parent, we will provide you with the proper document to then serve the parent by publication. This is a notice that is published in a local newspaper once a week for 4 weeks. The publication fee for the newspaper is about $85 depending on where you live. Upon the filing of the Document the clerk will direct that service of notice be done by publication in a newspaper in the county in which you filed the adoption.
2. The parent won’t sign, but the grounds do exist for the adoption:
If you know where the other parent is, but he/she won’t sign for whatever the reason, you can have that parent served by a private process server or the local Sheriff’s department. Even if the non-signing parent is in any type of prison.
Start your Delaware Stepparent Adoption Today!
