Step-Parent Adoption

A step-parent may adopt a step child in Texas if certain criteria are met. This situation arises commonly where one spouse has children for a previous relationship or marriage. It is perhaps more common when the wife brings children to a new marriage and the natural father is not participating in the upbringing or support of that child. However, there are instances where the wife in a new or second marriage wishes to adopt the children of her husband. There cannot be a step-parent adoption where there is a natural parent or adjudicated parent that retains their parental rights. In other words, the natural or adjudicated parent must have their parental rights terminated. This procedure is the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship. The procedure can occur either before or concurrently with the action for step-parent adoption.

In Texas, there must be a substantial basis to terminate the rights of a parent. The statutory basis for involuntarily terminating a parent’s rights are enumerated in the Texas Family Code §161.001-007. This section of the Texas Family Code provides for terminating the parent-child relationship for various types of abandonment, failure to support the child, abandoning the mother during pregnancy, causing a child to not be enrolled in school and various criminal acts and drug offenses. The Texas Family Code also provides for the termination of the parent-child relationship of an alleged father where there alleged father’s identity is unknown and his whereabouts cannot be determined. The situations listed here highlight some of the more common grounds for termination; however it is not an exhaustive listing.