Getting Help With Your Divorce

Have A Blended Family? 4 Reasons You Should Adopt Your Step-Children

If you're in a step-parent relationship, it might be time to make a more permanent arrangement. Step-parent adoption allows you to adopt your step-children, which creates a more lasting bond within the family. If you haven't given step-parent adoption any thought, here are three important reasons why you should.

Ensure Your Parental Rights

When you're a step-parent, you have very few legal rights over the children you're raising. Unfortunately, that lack of parental rights makes it difficult for you to take care of things like school registration, medical care, and other necessary decisions related to your step children. Adopting your step-children makes you their legal parent, which ensures that you have parental rights to them. These parental rights will allow you to provide the care that your children need, as well as give you the right to have a say in important decisions.

Protect Your Step-Child

If you're a step-parent, you run the risk of losing your children if something happens to your partner – the biological parent. For instance, if your partner passes away, or becomes incapacitated, your step-children could be placed with other relatives – including the other biological parent. That could have a devastating effect on you and your step-children if you've been the only other parent they've ever known. This arrangement can be particularly devastating if the other parent abandoned them, or was abusive to them – or your partner. By legally adopting your step-children, you will retain custody of them should your partner pass away or become incapacitated.

Give Your Step-Children Your Last Name

If you and your partner have had other children, your family may be comprised of multiple last names. That can be difficult for children to adjust to. You can create a complete family unit by giving your step-child your last name. They'll know that they're truly a part of your life once they share your last name.

Sever Unhealthy Relationships

When you're a step-parent, it can be difficult to deal with an absent parent who was abusive, or who abandoned their family. The last thing you want is for that person to come back into your step-children's lives and disrupt things again. By adopting your step-children, you'll be able to terminate the parental rights of the absentee parent, which will sever those unhealthy relationships.

If you're thinking about adopting your step-children, you should talk to a family law attorney such as Law Offices of Lynda Latta, LLC as soon as possible. They'll be able to help you through the process.


Share