Legal Question in Family Law in Alaska

Adoption of stepchild

My husband and I have physical custody of my stepdaughter. He has always had this arrangement with the birth mother, but they were never married and there is NO legal custody arrangement. Birth mother sees child irregularly and pays no cs. I want to adopt my stepdaughter, mainly because I fear that if something happened to my husband, her birth mother could legally take her from me and I would have no recourse. If we were able to convince her to give up her parental rights, or able to declare her unfit (extremely difficult I have heard), what legal requirements would there be for me to adopt her? And would the mother have to be present for the adoption hearing once parental rights were terminated??How does this work?


Asked on 8/04/00, 1:28 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Melody Stickel-Martinez Melody Stickel-Martinez, Esq.

Re: Adoption of stepchild

Petition for Step parent adoption would need to be filed along with other documents and served upon ex. She must be notified of this action since her consent is required. In certain circumstances her consent may not be required therefore, you will need to retain an attorney to review your case to make a determination of this.

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Answered on 9/15/00, 11:28 am


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