Experienced Same-Sex Parentage Attorneys
Parentage
LGBTQ individuals, who have children, must think not only about what diapers to choose or whether to breastfeed/chest feed or not. LGBTQ families must secure their legal rights as parents. Non-biological parents are strongly encouraged to seek either a stepparent adoption or a parentage judgment (whether you are married or not; in a domestic partnership or not). The law says that any child born into a marriage or domestic partnership is the legal child of both spouses/domestic partners. In a divorce or termination of domestic partnership, the law further presumes that the children are automatically considered the children of the marriage/dp for purposes of custody and visitation decisions. Nonetheless, couples who have children are strongly encouraged to seek either a stepparent adoption or judgment of parentage.
Stepparent Adoption in California
This legal option is for non-biological parents to adopt their children thus forming a legal parent-child relationship. In most cases, the process is streamlined for same-sex parents, in which there is no investigation by a social worker and no court hearing. Once the paperwork is completed and the consent of the biological parent obtained, the case is filed with the court and usually, the certification of family creation is mailed after 30-90 days from the date of filing. All stepparent adoptions are handled on a flat-fee basis. Please call for rates.
In some cases, however, the court may order an investigation and a hearing depending on the facts.
In cases where no consent may be obtained, termination of parental rights may be an option.
