Our Law Firm is Dedicated to Bringing your Family Together

Creating a family is a wonderful experience and commitment. You have already done the hard work, so our Attorneys will handle the legal process to formalize the bonds that you have already created. The laws and issues regarding adoption are complicated and ever-changing. Depending on your circumstances and needs, our Attorneys will advise you on how our law firm will handle this process on your behalf.

In 2014, California enacted a law that acknowledges a child may have more than just two parents and that there are many different types of family units. The Third Parent law provides families with the ability to have more than two parents legally recognized. For families that use reproductive assistance, it is essential to ensure the other parent that is not carrying the child formally adopts the child, especially for same-sex couples. For couples that use a sperm donor or surrogate to assist in creating their family, it is imperative that a Surrogacy Agreement be drafted to ensure the donor or surrogate’s parents rights are relinquished once the child is born. 

Step-parent Adoptions are becoming more and more common in this day and age. Step-Parent Adoptions allow the spouse of a biological or legal parent to adopt a child to become the legal parent of that child. This is different from an ‘independent’ Adoption in that the parents are either seeking a child already born that is not biologically or legally the child[ren] of either parent. Step-Parent Adoption arises when the biological/legal parent re-marries and the step-parent wants to formalize their relationship with the child by adopting the child.

The laws regarding Adult Adoptions were recently revised in 2019 to align with the Third Parent Law to allow for an adult to be adopted by a third (or more) parent. Our Senior Associate Attorney, Erika Lee, Esq., spearheaded the revision of the adult adoption statute and drafted the revised statute. Adult Adoptions occur when the adult child and parent seeking to adopt are both over the age of 18. Adult Adoptions are uncontested and do not require notice to any legal or biological parent. They also permit the adult adoptee to terminate the parental rights of any existing legal or biological parent without notice. 

Your issue may be time-sensitive, please contact our Law Firm to set up your Initial Consultation.

Please read the FAQs prior to your Initial Consultation.