Adoption Lawyers

One area of UK adoption law that the adoption lawyers at Pearl Lemon Legal work in often is stepchild adoption. This is a complex, changing field that our team is especially knowledgeable about. You are a stepfamily if you or your partner are housing children from a prior relationship union. When step-parents are fully responsible for the day-to-day upbringing of their stepchildren, they might desire to formalise their relationship with them. Adoption is one method for doing this, but increasingly this can be a difficult, and sometimes even contentious issue and expert adoption lawyers may be a must in order to both secure the outcomes you are hoping for and/or safeguard your rights. The legal ties between a child and their other natural parent, as well as with their extended family, including grandparents and other relatives, are severed when a step-parent adopts their partner's child.

Unless the court orders otherwise, the child's last name may be changed, and the child will become heir to your estate together with your own children. Therefore, even if you and your current partner get divorced, you will still be the child's legal parent. You and your partner will need to think about the alternatives because the court must explore all the choices before ever considering adoption. If you are married to or in a civil partnership with the child's parent, you may get parental responsibility (PR) for your stepchild through an agreement or a court order under an amendment to the Children Act 1989 (section 4A). If your spouse, wife, or partner is the only one with parental rights for the child, they can formally agree to share those rights with you.

Both parents must agree to let you share PR if the child's other parent also possesses PR. You will require the Step Parent Parental Responsibility Order, Form C(PRA2). As an alternative, you can request a Parental Responsibility Order from any family court. Residence Order: This order specifies the person the child will reside with. The order grants PR to the step-parent if one of the people specified therein does not already have it. Despite not having the same parental rights as the child's parents, you now share parental responsibilities with them. Without the consent of any other person who has PR or with the court's approval, neither the parent nor the step-parent may change the child's last name or remove them from the country for a period longer than a month. If you pass away, you cannot name a guardian to take care of the child. The order may now be made up until the child becomes 18 if the step-parent is named. Because of this change to Section 12 of the Children Act of 1989, anyone wishing to terminate the order before the child turns 18 must obtain the court's consent before filing an application.

This order provides stability and security for you, your partner, and the child, but it lacks the permanence of an adoption order. You must be married to the child's parent, be in a registered civil partnership, or be able to prove that the child has lived with you for three years in order to apply for a residence order. Otherwise, you require the consent of any additional person who is the child's PR. The court has the authority to issue directives on your and any other PR holders' contact and the use of their rights. In rare circumstances, it may provide that no individual may file a court application to modify the orders without first obtaining the court's approval. Navigating these complex processes can be daunting, but Pearl Lemon Legal's adoption lawyers will do everything in their power to make it as easy as possible for all parties involved, including the children. Call our adoption attorneys to discuss how we might assist you if you require trustworthy and uncomplicated legal counsel regarding child adoption.