UTAH 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 childs 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 6 months prior to the date that you file. This information must be included in your filing, and proof of residency, such as a drivers 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 states 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 the process of your stepparent adoption, you will want to make every effort possible to get the consent of the other parent. We at Dependable Adoption know at times it is impossible to get the other parents’ consent, either because their whereabouts are unknown, or because they have such a disinterest in the child that the withhold consent without good cause. The absent parent has failed to support the child for 6 months 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.
UTAH COURT ADDRESSES.
Our documents are for the entire STATE of UTAH
You must file the adoption documents in the District Court in the county that you are residing filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
Salt Lake County District Court – Salt Lake City: 450 S. State St., P.O. Box 1860, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1860
Davis County District Court – Bountiful: 805 So. Main Bountiful, Utah 84010
Davis County District Court – Farmington: 800 West State St., P.O. Box 769, Farmington UT 84025
Davis County District Court – Layton: 425 N. Wasatch Drive, Layton UT 84041
Utah Count District Court – Provo: 125 North 100 West, Provo UT 84601
Weber County District Court – Ogden: 2525 Grant Avenue, Ogden UT 84401
Box Elder County: 43 North Main, P.O. Box 873, Brigham City, UT 84302-0873
Iron County District Court – Cedar City: 40 North 100 E., Cedar City, UT 84720
Washington County District Court – St. George: 220 N. 200 E., St. George, UT 84770 Civil
COURT FILING FEE
There is court filing fees for an adoption in Utah is $ 155
the publication fee is about $85.
SERVING THE ABSENT PARENT. In many stepparent adoptions, the absent parent may be willing to sign a consent form, which consents to the termination of their parental rights, and consents to the adoption. If the absent parent is willing to sign a consent this will make the process a little easier because the court will know from the beginning that all parties agree to the stepparent adoption. Many of our adoption customers don’t know the whereabouts of the other parent, or the other parent has such a disinterest that he/she just won’t sign any documents. 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 are unable to locate the absent parent after a diligent search then you can serve the parent by publication. This means that a notice is published in a local legal publication. Typically once a week for 4 weeks. The publication fee for the newspaper averages around $65 but varies depending on where you live. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
2. The parent just won’t sign, but grounds exist for the adoption:If you know the whereabouts of the other parent, but that parent won’t sign due to disinterest, you can have that parent served by the Sheriff’s department or a private process server. This can be done even if the other parent is incarcerated in jail or a federal prison.
Start your Stepparent Adoption Today!
