Tarrant County Adoption Attorney
Growing your family officially through the adoption process should be a time for turning cartwheels and celebration. All too often, however, the adoption process becomes a heated, tenuous experience for people who want to do what is best for their children.
As a full-service Fort Worth family law firm, The Fetty Firm, P.C., assists clients throughout the Metroplex with their stepparent and grandparent adoption needs. You shouldn’t have to worry about the process. You need a Tarrant County Adoption Attorney that understands the process. You need someone with years of experience in facilitating adoptions that understands the legal process while still providing support, empathy, and the level of care that you and your family need.
Tarrant County Adoption Law Firm
The state of Texas has a very indepth, strict process for adoptions. It is a serious matter that should not be taken lighly. This process includes an interview, background investigation and appearance at a formal court hearing. We will be beside you during every step of the process to ensure that you know what is going on with your adoption. Never should you have to worry about the state of your adoption or case. Experience matters.
Experienced Tarrant County Adoption Attorney
Step-parents and grandparents often wonder, “Do I need to hire an attorney to adopt a child in Texas?” Yes. The process in Texas can be so long and protracted with so many intricacies in the law, that having someone to guide you along can be invaluable.
First, you can’t adopt your spouse’s child or a grandchild unless the biological parent’s parental rights have been legally terminated. The burden will also be on you to prove the parent is unfit or unwilling to parent the child. An experienced family law attorney will help. Having someone right here in Tarrant County can make the process even more manageable. So many firms advertise that they do adoptions, but they are from all over the state, or sometimes even nationwide. Get someone who knows the local processes. Get someone that is a Tarrant County Adoption Attorney.
Second, experienced adoption lawyers know that timing is essential during the adoption process, especially if the biological parent is unwilling to relinquish parental rights. For example, say you believe the parent is abusing drugs. In Texas, you need to file to terminate parental rights as soon as you realize egregious behavior is occurring, otherwise, the state may rule you don’t have standing (the right) to file a lawsuit in your case.
The state of Texas places a high priority on doing what is in the best interest of the child. Texas doesn’t like to separate children from their parents when possible, which means the state doesn’t take adoption lightly.
If you hope to adopt a stepchild or grandchild in Texas, you’ll need to be thoroughly vetted. Background checks, family interviews and home studies all take time, so keep that in mind as you set the wheels in motion to adopt.
It will also be your responsibility to pay for any background checks or home studies the judge orders. In addition, the judge may require that an amicus or ad litem attorney is assigned to the case to help determine whether the adoption is in the best interest of the child. Again, you will be responsible for paying the amicus or ad litem attorney’s fees, as well as your family law attorney’s fees.
The Fetty Firm handles domestic, international, and private adoptions along with parental rights cases. If you are about to go forward in the adoption process, you need a Tarrant County family law attorney with extensive experience and knowledge in adoption and parental rights law. Contact Rashelle Fetty with the Fetty Firm today.