Best Family Law Attorneys in Newport News, VA

Step-parent adoptions are by far the most common type of adoption handled in our office. In this mobile world of ours, if often happens that a non-custodial parent becomes estranged from his or her child both geographically and emotionally. Sometimes the custodial parent has remarried and the new spouse is appropriately filling the shoes of the absent parent. The new ‘daddy’ or ‘mommy’ may have played the parenting role much longer than the biological parent, and frequently is the only mother or father the child knows. In these cases, the absent parent is frequently willing to surrender parental rights to the new spouse via the process of a step-parent adoption. The effect of a step parent adoption is to totally sever the legal relationship between the parent and the child. It is imperative that the process be done correctly to insure no surprises. Using the services of a qualified attorney who fully understand the requirements and consequences of a step-parent adoption is vitally important. Procedurally, a step-parent adoption is quite simple if both birth parents and the adoptive parents all consent, or if a birth parent has died and the remarried birth parent and new spouse both consent. No home studies are required.