MARYLAND 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 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. The absent parent has abandoned the child, failing to offer financial or emotional support or to communicate for a period of 6 months from the filing of this petition. The absent parent has failed to support the child for 1 year as required by law or court order, and the court is of the option that the adoption in or the best interest of the child. In most adoptions, abandonment is used as grounds for the termination of the parental rights.
MARYLAND COURT ADDRESSES.
Our documents are for the entire STATE of MARYLAND
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 as follows:
Frederick County Courthouse: 100 West Patrick St., Frederick, MD 21701
Baltimore County Courts Building: 401 Bosley Avenue, Mailstop 3102, Towson, Maryland 21204
City of Baltimore County: Courthouse East: 111 North Calvert St., Room 462, Baltimore, MD 21202
Howard County Courthouse: 8360 Court Ave., Ellicott City, MD 21043
Montgomery County Judicial Center: 50 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850
Harford County Courthouse: 20 West Courtland St., Bel Air, MD 21014
Cecil County Courthouse: 129 East Main St., Elkton, MD 21921
Washington County Courthouse: 95 West Washington St., Hagerstown, MD 21740
Allegany County Courthouse: 30 Washington St., Cumberland, MD 21502
Garrett County Courthouse: P.O. Box 447, 203 South 4th St., Oakland, MD 21550
COURT FILING FEE
The court filing fees for an adoption in Maryland is about $80 the publication fee is about $85.
SERVING THE ABSENT PARENT.
Many stepparent adoptions, the absent parent is willing to sign a consent form to termination their parental rights and consents to the adoption. This will be a little easier because the court will know right from the start that all parties agree to the stepparent adoption. Too Many of our customers don’t know where the other parent is, or the other parent just won’t sign any documents for whatever there selfish reason may be. In this situation, you will file the adoption documents and then serve the absent parent by one of the following options:
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 Stepparent Adoption Today!
