Stepparent Adoptions Lawyer

Legalizing your parenting relationship with your stepchild through adoption is a wonderful gift to the child and your family. Front Range Family Law ® helps stepparents and the natural parent terminate the existing rights of the other biological parent so that the stepparent adoption can proceed. Stepparent adoptions lawyer Rebecca Gumaer is an adoption attorney serving clients throughout Wheat Ridge, Littleton and the Denver Highlands.

Colorado law requires adopting stepparents to meet several criteria before they can adopt a child. A stepparent must:

Be older than 21
Have a clean criminal record
Live with the natural parent and child for more than a year
Provide financial support
Engage in parenting activities with the child

We know that the stepparents are motivated by the rewards of parenting and the peace mind that they will have legal rights to the children that they love. At Front Range Family Law ®, our job is to make the adoption as simple and straightforward as possible.

Becoming A Parent

To be sure, petitioning for stepparent adoption is a complicated process. In Colorado, stepparent adoptions require the consent of both the custodial parent and the noncustodial parent. In cases where the noncustodial parent is incapable or unwilling to provide consent for the stepparent adoption, the stepparent and the custodial parent have to petition the family courts to terminate the noncustodial parent’s legal relationship to the child.

Courts in Colorado make adoption decisions on the basis of what is best for the child. For instance, the stepparent must be able to demonstrate a willingness and ability to care for the physical, emotional and financial needs of the child. Additionally, for stepchildren 12 years of age or older, the stepparent must also have the child’s consent to the adoption.

Our stepparent adoptions attorney helps stepparents formalize their relationship with stepchildren. Our law office exclusively practices in family law, and we have extensive experience helping blended families successfully complete stepparent adoptions.

What Happens If the Biological Parent Objects to the Adoption?

An objection does not end the adoption. It turns the case into a contested hearing, where the court decides whether the other parent’s legal relationship with the child should be terminated over that parent’s opposition.

Once the petition is filed, the court issues a notice to the other parent stating what is being asked for and when the hearing will be held. If that parent’s address is known, the notice is formally served. If a diligent search does not turn up an address, the court can order notice by publication in a newspaper. A parent who cannot be found does not automatically lose their rights, but the case can move forward without their participation once proper notice has been given.

Colorado provides two independent grounds for declaring a child available for adoption in a stepparent case. The first is that the other birth parent abandoned the child for a period of one year or more. The second is that the parent failed without cause to provide reasonable support for one year or more. These are separate grounds. Proving either one can be enough, and a court order requiring support is not a prerequisite to a failure-to-support finding.

How Colorado Courts Evaluate a Contested Termination

The petitioning family carries the burden, and the standard is clear and convincing evidence. That is a higher bar than the ordinary civil standard, and it reflects how seriously courts treat ending a parent-child legal relationship.

The court generally works through two questions. First, has a statutory ground been proven for the one-year period before the petition was filed? Second, is termination in the child’s best interests? A family can prove the first and still not prevail on the second.

Two words carry unusual weight in these cases. Abandonment looks at whether the parent maintained a meaningful relationship, not whether they sent an occasional text or a birthday gift. And failure to support has to be without cause, which is why a parent’s actual ability to pay becomes a live issue. Incarceration illustrates the point. It is not treated as an automatic excuse for nonpayment, and it is not treated as automatic abandonment either.

One misconception is worth clearing up. Missed support payments on their own do not guarantee a termination. The court still weighs the child’s attachments, stability, and long-term interests alongside the statutory ground. In these cases, careful preparation carries far more weight than any account of how the other parent behaved.

Common Objections a Biological Parent May Raise

Most contested stepparent adoptions turn on a short list of arguments:

Interference, meaning the custodial parent blocked contact, so the absence was not voluntary. This is the most common defense and often the most effective one.
Inability to pay rather than unwillingness, supported by job loss, disability, or documented hardship.
Contact that the parent characterizes as ongoing and the petitioners characterize as token.
Renewed involvement that began after the petition was filed, which does not change what happened during the one-year period the court is examining.
Procedural challenges to whether notice and service were properly completed.

Anticipating these is most of the preparation. A stepparent adoptions lawyer will typically want a documented record of contact and support going back well beyond the past twelve months before the petition is filed.

What Happens After the Court Rules?

If the court terminates the parent-child legal relationship, the adoption can proceed, and the stepparent becomes the child’s legal parent with the full rights and obligations that come with it, including inheritance rights. The terminated parent’s ongoing child support obligation ends going forward. How any past-due support is treated is a separate question worth raising with your attorney, because termination does not necessarily erase what has already accrued.

When rights are terminated over a parent’s objection, that parent has 49 days to appeal. The adoption hearing is generally scheduled after that window closes.

If the court declines to terminate, the adoption cannot go forward at that time. That outcome is disappointing, but it is not always permanent. Circumstances change, and a later petition may be supported by a new period of absence or nonsupport. Either way, you will know where you stand and what the court needs to see.

Contact Our Stepparent Adoptions Lawyer For A Free Evaluation

Adopting a child is a rewarding experience with some legal pitfalls. To ensure that your adoption proceeds seamlessly, contact Front Range Family Law ® in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Call 720-456-6471 or email our office for assistance.