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Families across Texas have an interest in being able to grow via adoption. One of the most understandable and heartwarming instincts is for an adult to have children. When that is not possible biologically, adoption becomes a real option for families. Additionally, the need for good adoptive parents grows by the day. As a result, many people in recent years have contacted the Law Office of Bryan Fagan regarding the possibility of learning more about the adoption process.
In today’s blog post, we are going to learn more about Texas adoption law. What you need to know is critical to your success in the process. Additionally, how your specific circumstances interact with the law in Texas is even more important. We will provide you with an overview of what to expect in your adoption case based on your life. If you have any questions about the material covered in today’s blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. We offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone and via video.
Adoption is different than raising a child
Think back to your childhood for a moment. Did anyone besides your parents help take part in raising you? I’m willing to bet that the answer to this question is yes. For many of us, there was more than just one person who took on the responsibility of helping to raise us into adults. We had uncles and aunts. Grandparents would step in when they were able to. Even family friends and other persons like this would lend a hand when needed. Even though our parents performed much of the day-to-day responsibility of raising us, others helped.
That same concept is true today. Probably even more children today are raised in part by family members and close friends in addition to biological parents. There are several reasons why this is the case. However, for today’s blog post, all we need to establish is that there is more than one way to be a parent. However, being a parent and being a caregiver are two different things. They may look similar. That said, there are critical differences between someone who takes care of a child and someone who is a parent.
That is where adoption comes into play. When you decide to adopt a child you are not merely taking over as a primary caregiver. Rather, you are choosing to take on the massive responsibility of being responsible for that child’s well-being. A good-natured uncle may be a terrific caregiver for a few hours each week. That uncle, as well-meaning as he is, has not adopted the child. Today we are going to talk about going the extra mile and becoming the adopted parent to a child in need.
What does adoption accomplish in a legal sense?
Even though a child may have more than one caregiver, he or she may only have one legal set of parents. In an adoption, a court is asked to make two other people the legal parents of a child. Those two other people are not the biological parents. Adoption puts the court in a position to decide which set of parents is better suited for the child. This is a complex situation. It is not easy to ask a judge to assess the life of a child and to make it determination about his or her parents.
What happens in an adoption case is that the court will be able to review different studies, assessments, and testimony to help make a good decision. There are many pieces to an adoption case. Families like yours could be in one of two positions. The first position is that of a family seeking to adopt a child. As we mentioned a moment ago, there are many circumstances under which a family may wish to adopt a child. Being in a position where you want to adopt a child necessarily means that you are asserting that you are the more well-suited party to caring for a child.
What to do if you are a parent whose child may be adopted?
Or you may be in a position where your biological child is eligible for adoption. Understand that, before an adoption case may proceed, your parental rights must be terminated. Many times, this is the case in a CPS investigation. When your parental rights are terminated that means you are no longer the legal parent to your child. Additionally, any legal bond between the two of you would be eliminated based on the discretion of the judge. With so much at stake, it is critical to have an advocate in your corner who is prepared to walk with you through the adoption process.
Adoption versus custody of a child
In some family law cases, a person will ask a court for conservatorship rights. These conservatorship rights relate to the ability to make decisions for a child. Additionally, they also have to do with the duty to care for a child in specific circumstances. A parent is always a conservator. However, a conservator is not always a parent. This is an important distinction to draw as families attempt to learn how to positively impact the life of a child.
Being a conservator can look like being a parent in many ways. What you need to know is that a conservator falls short of parental rights. A conservator only has the rights listed in an order affecting the parent-child relationship. Looking towards a court order, a conservator learns their role in the life of a child. A parent, on the other hand, understands that he or she is the primary conservator and primary caregiver. A parent does not have to look to a court order to determine their place in a child’s life.
One aspect of adoption that is often overlooked is that of inheritance rights. When you become the adoptive parent to a child, that child can inherit property from you. Suppose that you were to die without a will. In that case, your child would be able to inherit property from you. This is true even though he or she is not your biological child. Your adopted child would have the same right to inherit property from you as any biological child of yours. The law treats adoptive and biological children the same.
Adopting a child whose parents are having their rights terminated
A child is eligible for adoption if both of his biological parents have had their parental rights terminated. Additionally, a child may be adopted if his biological parents could potentially have their parental rights terminated in a concurrent lawsuit. In any event, a termination lawsuit must be filed concurrently with an adoption lawsuit or have already occurred.
Additionally, a biological parent may voluntarily relinquish their parental rights. In that event, the termination lawsuit would be an agreed suit to terminate the parent-child relationship. A judge would decide whether to grant the termination request based on the best interests of a child.
Or a termination lawsuit may be involuntary. This happens when a parent or parents are not in agreement on terminating their parental rights. In that event, a termination lawsuit would take place before adoption. That is if the termination lawsuit is successful and the parent’s parental rights are terminated.
Adopting a child as a stepparent
Stepparents are another person who may play a major role in the upbringing of a child. If you are a stepparent to a child you can file a petition to adopt your stepchild. In this type of adoption lawsuit, your spouse would be able to maintain their parental rights. However, you would still need to terminate the parental rights of the other biological parent.
In step-parenting situations, a suit affecting the parent-child relationship stands as an alternative to an adoption lawsuit. Suppose that you are a stepparent who would like to become a caretaker for your stepchild in a legal sense. Immediately, your mind may turn towards a stepparent adoption case. However, if you are not able to terminate the parental rights of your stepchild to another parent you still have an option. You may be named as a conservator of your stepchild.
More details on adoption in Texas
Here are a few more details on adoption that may be relevant to your situation. If your spouse wants to adopt a child that means you would need to add your name to their petition. A married person cannot solely adopt a child. Rather, both spouses in a marriage must seek the adoption together.
Adopting children 12 years or older requires that the child consent to the adoption. However, a court may waive this requirement if the judge believes that the adoption is in the best interest of the child.
Finally, if you are the conservator of a child, you must consent to an adoption, as well. The two exceptions to this rule are if you are the person seeking the adoption or if the court waives this requirement.
More information on voluntary termination of parental rights
Texas family law allows a parent to relinquish their parental rights. This is done often through a suit to terminate parental rights. Bear in mind that a court does not automatically grant requests like this. Rather, the court would still need to determine that the termination is in the best interest of the child. Even if you waive an interest in the child as a father that is not enough to have your parental rights terminated. A court would still need to be involved in the termination process. Parental rights cannot be terminated by signing an affidavit or any other legal form.
Involuntary termination of parental rights
It is difficult to involuntarily terminate a person’s parental rights. Completely changing the parents of a child is a good way to turn a child’s life upside down. The legal standard required in Texas to terminate a parent’s parental rights is clear and convincing evidence. This is a higher standard than the normal preponderance of the evidence seen in a civil case. However, it falls short of the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard outlined in criminal cases.
In addition to being in the best interests of a child, involuntary termination of parental rights must have a reason at its core. Parental abandonment is one of those reasons. The parent would have needed to have abandoned the child or not have supported him. Endangerment of the child is another reason why parental rights may be involuntarily terminated. Criminal conviction on the part of the parent or unfitness are two reasons why a parent may have their rights terminated involuntarily.
What factors matter one considering the best interest of your child?
The best interests of the child standard is one that courts consider when determining issues related to children. Your child’s physical and emotional needs are at the top of a judge’s priorities list. The parenting abilities of both sets of parents in the case are also relevant. Who provides the better skills and aptitude regarding parenting? What are your future goals for your child? What are the future goals of the proposed adopted parents?
The overall stability of the home environment also matters in this question. What has your history as a parent looked like? Has there been consistency in the home? Or have multiple adults come in and out of the house as guests? What about drug use or alcohol abuse? Your history with CPS and that of your co-parent will also be examined. Depending upon the age of your child, his or her thoughts on the adoption proposed will also come into play.
What happens in a CPS case?
You should expect that a CPS case involves a series of interviews and studies. If you are the prospective adoptive parent, then a study of your home environment is conducted. The child you seek to adopt, your spouse, and you will all be interviewed. The questions asked will be geared towards determining how suitable your home environment is for a child at his or her age.
Criminal histories are researched for any adult living in the home with you. Imagine going through an adoption case while you have an adult living in the home who has a criminal past. Before you scoff at this notion, it is important to point out that this exact situation played out a few years ago for a client from our office. He and his significant other were both attempting to win primary custody of their kids. Our client neglected to tell us that his uncle (who was living with him) had a criminal history. On top of that, his uncle had a history of child abuse.
Working through the adoption process with an experienced family law attorney is a game changer for you. There are so many moving pieces in adoption cases. Keeping everything straight is not easy. However, that is where having an attorney helps. You can manage the family dynamics of an adoption. Your attorney can work on the evolving dynamics of the case itself.
Final thoughts on adoptions in Texas
Thank you for joining us today on the blog for the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our attorneys enjoy serving our clients in adoption cases. Oftentimes, adoption cases end up being some of the more heartwarming and rewarding of all family law cases. However, it is also possible for an adoption case to be extremely difficult from an emotional perspective. There are additional challenges which are involved when you need to terminate the parental rights of a child. This is what allows you to step in and then adopt the child in question.
Balancing multiple family law cases simultaneously is a daunting prospect if you have no experience in the law. Fortunately, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan are equipped to help you based on these challenges in an adoption case. We know how to not only help position you for an adoption. We also know how to help you plan your case by working with adoption agencies, the city of Texas in other persons involved in the case.
A free-of-charge consultation with one of our attorneys is only a phone call away. You may be surprised to learn about just how an adoption case proceeds. Our attorneys know first-hand what happens from the beginning to the end of a family law case. Thank you for joining us today. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan are on your side. We work diligently to advocate on behalf of our clients. We would be honored to do the same for you and your family.
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan offer free of charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law. Before signing a document or negotiating on a subject you do not know well, contact our office. We look forward to the opportunity of serving you during an important part of your life. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is on your side.
