Fort Bend & Brazoria County Child Adoption Attorney
Adoption creates a permanent legal relationship that can provide a child with stability, security, and a lasting sense of family. Jamie Jordan Law guides families through stepparent, relative, and other child adoption matters throughout Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties.
Building Families Through Adoption
Adoption is both a meaningful family milestone and a formal legal process. Once finalized, an adoption creates a legal parent-child relationship between the adoptive parent and child, including the rights and responsibilities that come with parenthood.
Jamie Jordan Law helps families understand the requirements, prepare the necessary documents, and move through the adoption process with confidence. Every case is handled with personal attention and a focus on the child’s best interests.
Stepparent and Relative Adoptions
A stepparent adoption can legally formalize an existing parent-child relationship and provide the stepparent with permanent parental rights. Relative or kinship adoptions may also provide stability when a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or another family member has taken on a parental role.
Jamie Jordan Law helps families evaluate their options, address existing parental rights, and pursue an adoption that provides the child with a secure and permanent legal home.
Client Testimonials
Hear from the families we’ve helped through challenging legal matters with clarity, compassion, and care.
Consent and Termination of Parental Rights
Before a child can be adopted, the legal rights of any parent who will no longer remain the child’s parent generally must be terminated. Depending on the circumstances, termination may be voluntary, agreed, or requested through a contested court proceeding. The court must separately determine that both termination and adoption are in the child’s best interests.
Jamie Jordan Law helps clients understand consent requirements, address absent or objecting parents, and prepare evidence for the court. When the child is 12 or older, the child’s consent is generally required unless the court waives that requirement in the child’s best interests.
Guidance Through Every Stage of Adoption
The Texas adoption process may involve filing a petition, serving or obtaining consent from the appropriate parties, completing background checks or an adoption evaluation, gathering records, and attending a final court hearing. The specific requirements depend on the type of adoption and the family’s circumstances. DFPS adoption cases typically include background checks and a home study designed to evaluate the prospective home and family.
Jamie Jordan Law guides families through each step, helps resolve legal complications, and prepares the case for finalization. The firm serves clients throughout Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties, including Sugar Land, Richmond, Missouri City, Pearland, Alvin, Angleton, and surrounding communities.
Frequently
Asked Questions
Who can adopt a child in Texas?
Subject to Texas standing and adoption requirements, an adult may petition the court to adopt a child who is legally eligible for adoption. The court must determine that the adoption is in the child’s best interests.
What legal rights does adoption provide?
A final adoption order creates a legal parent-child relationship between the adoptive parent and child. The adoptive parent receives the legal rights and responsibilities of a parent, and the child generally receives the legal rights of a child in that family.
Can a stepparent adopt a stepchild?
Yes. A stepparent may seek to adopt their spouse’s child. The spouse remains the child’s legal parent, while the rights of the child’s other parent generally must be terminated before the adoption can be finalized.
Does the other biological parent have to consent?
Consent may allow the termination and adoption process to proceed more efficiently, but consent is not always available. In some cases, a court may terminate parental rights without consent when the statutory requirements are proven and termination is in the child’s best interests.
What happens when the other parent cannot be located?
The petitioner must generally make appropriate efforts to identify, locate, and legally notify the other parent. The court may permit another method of service when the parent cannot be found after a diligent search.
Is a home study required?
An adoption evaluation or pre-adoptive home screening may be required, depending on the type of adoption and the court’s orders. For adoptions involving children in DFPS care, the home study evaluates matters such as safety, family relationships, health, discipline, and the family’s ability to meet the child’s needs.
Does the child have to consent to the adoption?
A child who is 12 years of age or older generally must consent to the adoption. The court may waive the requirement when doing so would serve the child’s best interests.
How long does a child adoption take?
The timeline depends on the type of adoption, whether parental rights have already been terminated, whether anyone contests the case, and whether evaluations or additional court proceedings are required.