What You Need to Know About Stepparent Adoptions

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Blended families have been incredibly common throughout human history. Even before divorce became commonplace, or even legal, countless widowed parents remarried and combined their families. Today, many stepparents choose to legally adopt their stepchildren to gain full parental rights.

What You Need to Know About Stepparent Adoptions

If you want to take this step for your own stepchildren, give Hildebrand Law Office, P.C. a call to speak to our experienced attorney. In this article, we’ll go over a few key facts you will need to know about stepparent adoptions and how they work here in Georgia.

  • Marriage Requirement – To be eligible for stepparent adoptions in the state of Georgia, you must be married to the child’s parent. There is no requirement as to the length of the marriage between the parent and their new spouse, so it’s possible to adopt the child only days after signing the marriage license. However, it’s best to talk about these decisions as a family and to formalize the adoption when the child feels ready.
  • Age and Residency Requirements – Other requirements pertaining to stepparent adoptions in the state of Georgia have to do with the person’s age and residency. The stepparent must be at least 21 years of age, and they must be a legal resident of Georgia in order to qualify. Until 2018, there was an additional requirement that the stepparent be at least 10 years older than the child, but since then, those rules have been relaxed to make stepparent adoptions easier to obtain. If you have further questions about stepparent adoptions, just give us a call.