Step Parent Adoption in Riverside County – How to Adopt a Stepchild

You must File Your Step Parent Adoption in the Correct Regional Court

There are many Superior Courts in Riverside County but only some accept stepparent adoptions to be file there. The main one is the central Family Law Court in Riverside (4175 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501). The courthouse handling Southwest Riverside County has changed almost yearly recently, going from Hemet to Murrieta to now the Menifee Courthouse (27401 Menifee Ctr Dr, Menifee, CA 92584). The desert region is handled by the Indio courthouse (Larson Justice Center, 46-200 Oasis Street Indio, CA 92201). The correct court is determined by the home zip code of the adopting stepparent.

There are Many Required Documents in Filing a Step Parent Adoption in Riverside County

Each step parent adoption case is unique and may have different required documents to bring it to completion, but the standard minimum required documents for Riverside County are:

• Declaration of Residence  (to show correct jurisdiction).
• Adoption Request  (the Petition for Adoption).
• Indian Child Welfare compliance forms (to establish no Native American ancestry that could trigger special laws).
• Adoption Agreement.
• Consent to Adoption  of spouse of adopting stepparent.
• Consent to Adoption via Adoption Agreement by the child if aged 12 or over.
• Consent to Adoption  by the absent parent. (If he or she does not consent, many more documents will be required, discussed further below.)
• Report of an approved adoption agency or entity approving the adoption.
• Request to Set Hearing.
• Notice  and Order  re Remote Hearing in the rare case the final hearing is by video.
• Order of Adoption.
• VS-44 (Court Report of Adoption).

Step Parent Adoption Requires an Approved Investigation

Stepparent adoptions do not require a home study of the adopting step parent. Technically, a "home study" is a very thorough look into the life of adopting parents in traditional adoption. For step parent adoptions, less is required and they refer to it as an "investigation." Less is required as the step parent is already a part of the family, being married to the child's parent, and likely already living together as a family. Still, before making stepdad or stepmom into a legal and permanent parent, the court wants to make sure the adoption will be in the best interests of the child.

Most family law attorneys believe the only entity to do stepparent investigations in Riverside County is the assigned entity by the county, which is the Riverside County Probation Department. They charge $344. The probation department might seem a curious choice to do step parent investigations, and it is not the norm by other counties, but it is choice made by the decision-makers of Riverside County. They can do a good job, and have dedicated personnel, but normally they are quite busy with other duties, as you would imagine would be the case for the probation department. This means they are not often the fastest option.

The law changed a few years ago allowing private adoption agencies to do step parent adoption investigations. These are the same agencies that do traditional adoptions, so it is their focus. This can't be said of the probation department, whose main job is clearly working with people convicted of a crime. Private adoption agencies are limited by law in their fee. It cannot exceed $700 for a traditional stepparent report. So private agencies are a little more expensive than the probation department but their greater speed and user-friendly nature often make them a better choice. Of course, not every private adoption agency is created equal, and your adoption attorney will be able to tell you who they work with.

The main elements of a stepparent investigation is an interview with the adopting step parent, their spouse, and the child (if of an age to be appropriately communicative, a criminal background investigation and check of the child abuse registry. If the adopting parent had a misstep in life, such as an arrest or bankruptcy, this does not mean they can't adopt. People need not prove they never had a problem in life. But the goal is to make sure any mistakes in life have been learned from and that the step parent will be a good legal parent and that the adoption will serve the child's best interests. There are no required "home visits" like in a traditional home study. Often the interview with the agency social worker will be in the social worker's office.

The Process is Identical for Same Sex Couples

For some reason people sometimes think the stepparent adoption is different for same sex couples. The answer is no. The laws and procedures are exactly the same.

Marriage or a Registered Domestic Partnership is a Requirement

A frequent question is, "Can my boyfriend/girlfriend" adopt my child?" The answer is "no", if your desire is to do a stepparent adoption. That requires a legal marriage or registered domestic partnership. Living together is not legally sufficient. If couples don't want to wait until they are married, they can  adopt without marriage, however. But they would have to do a traditional independent adoption, which would be more expensive. A traditional adoption mandates a full home study (a $4,500 fee by the California Department of Social Services, and likely higher legal fees than a stepparent adoption) as compared to the much lower $700 stepparent investigation fee.

The Required Step Parent Consent to Adoption

As mentioned above, the spouse of the adopting stepparent, and the stepchild if aged 12 over, must sign a written consent to the adoption. The real issue, however, is the other parent, often referred to as the absent parent. In most cases that is the birth father, so let's continue with that assumption here.

If he is willing to sign a consent, there is a special form to be signed. Usually your attorney will take the lead in contacting him and preparing the form. If the birth father is reluctant to sign, perhaps even when he has not seen or supported the child in years, he might be persuaded by the fact that the adoption, once completed, will end his obligation to pay child support. This does not necessarily terminate past-due child support, however.

But what if he won't sign a consent, or can't even be found to ask? First there is a somewhat complicated detailed legal analysis to determine if the birth father falls into the category of alleged  or presumed. This determines their legal rights and the applicable laws and procedures that need to be followed. To learn more about this complicated issue, please check out our Advanced Q and A page.

If an absent parent can't be found, or refuses to consent, a legal action must be brought to terminate their rights. Usually this is based upon "abandonment", failing to have contact with the child and/or provide support. These actions can be complicated and often require a hearing or trial to terminate the absent parent's rights so the adoption can continue. A small number of attorneys have real expertise in stepparent adoptions. An even smaller number are experienced in litigating contested stepparent adoption. They have little in common in law or theory with other family law cases, like divorce and child custody.

EXPECTED STEP PARENT ADOPTION COSTS AND CHOOSING AN ATTORNEY

Most adopting stepparents have two main questions: 1) what is the usual cost of a stepparent adoption?; and 2) how do I choose an attorney, especially one with reasonable fees? You can read our advice on that subject here.

You can change your step child's name as part of the adoption

It is not unusual, when the adopting step parent is the father, or a same-sex couple with different last names, for the family to want the child to take the adopting step parent's last name. Or it might be a hyphenation of names. Usually a name change requires a court action and the consent of both legal parents, but adoption allows you to change the child's name as a routine part of the adoption. Sometimes more than the last name is changed. The reality is you can change the first, middle and/or last name.

It is not unusual for the child to take the name of their stepfather (such as in school records) even before adoption. Perhaps this is because stepdad has been dad since the child was very young and the only dad the child knows. This is not a legal name change, however, and will prove problematic down the road, when the usage name does not match the birth certificate. The child will usually not be able to get a passport or Real ID under the non-legal name they have been using. A step parent adoption can solve all that.

You Will Receive a New Birth Certificate for the Child

When the adoption is finalized by the court, the court clerk will mail certified copies of the Adoption Order and a form called the VS-44 to Vital Records in Sacramento (assuming the child was born in California). Vital Records will then seal the child's present birth certificate and prepare an amended version. It will name the adopting stepparent as dad or mom, as if a birth parent with no mention of adoption, and also list the existing parent who is married to the stepparent.

This is mailed directly to you and typically takes about six months. If the child was born in another country, Vital Records still prepares a new birth document but it is slightly different than a birth certificate (which is for California births), called a Court Ordered Delayed Registration of Foreign Birth. If the child was born in another state, not California, the birth state will prepare the new birth certificate.

There is a Required Final Court Hearing

When all the legal requirements have been met, your attorney can schedule the final hearing. Usually you need to wait about 6-10 weeks for the hearing after the case has been declared ready for the final hearing.

What the Final Step Parent Adoption Hearing is Like

There are no adverse parties so the final hearing feels like a celebration, while still being a formal hearing. The judge will confirm everyone is in agreement to the adoption and understands a parent and child relationship is being completed with the rights and benefits of parenthood and the rights of inheritance. Almost every judge will invite the family to come up on the bench and pose for a photo. Some judges even have the child sit in the judge's chair and hold their gavel. All judges are different and some really make it a special day and others more like any other case. Happily, most judges fall into the first category.

You Can Invite Guests

Adoption hearings are private and sealed from the public. But for the final hearing you are allowed to invite your friends and family to share the day and watch the entire proceedings. Almost all the work has been done by your attorney at this point so the final hearing is usually only about 15 minutes.

You Will Receive Certified Copies of the Adoption Order

You will receive at least two certified copies of the Adoption Order  from most court clerks. This is your proof the adoption was granted and on what date. It is wise to also request certified copies of the Adoption Agreement, as discussed below.

Notifying Social Security and Others About the Completed Adoption

The SSA should be notified of the completed adoption to:

• Add the adopting step parent as legal parent of the child.
• Remove the parent whose rights ended.
• Change the child's name in their records, if a change was made.
• Note: This does not change the child's Social Security number. It stays the same.

There is no fee by SSA and your attorney can give you the fee to download. SSA will want a certified copy of both the Adoption Order and Adoption Agreement and the new amended birth certificate.

You might also need to show the certified copies at your child's school. If your child has a drivers license and you changed their name, you will need to notify them of the change as well, and they will need to see the certified copies.

Sometimes There is Continued Post-Adoption Contact with the Parent Whose Rights Ended

If everyone agrees, there are some cases where the birth parent who is not married to the adopting step parent (such as an absent birth father, or non-absent but consenting birth father) will legally stay in contact with the child. This might result when the child had a relationship with that parent and it is in everyone's best interests for it to continue. Or perhaps the absent parent only agreed to the adoption if it was agreed there could be continued contact with the child.

Sometimes these agreements are made in writing, called Contact After Adoption Agreements. The agreements might range from physical meetings to sending photos and updates.

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