Adoption

Chapter 162 of the Texas Family Code covers adoption and its requirements. Some of the basics to adopting a child in Texas are:

child must have had parent-child relationship terminated with living biological parents; or
the biological parent has not had his/her rights terminated and his/her new spouse is wanting to adopt to become a step-parent; or
the child is at least 2 years old, lives with the person wanting to adopt for at least six months (or there is a managing conservatorship ordered), and the non-terminated parent consents to the adoption; or

4. same as 3 above, except that the person wanting to adopt is a step-parent and the period is one year, not six months.

You can also file to adopt an adult in Texas. The main requirement is that the person being adopted consents to the adoption.

Both a husband and wife must join a petition to adopt (in other words, if you are married, you cannot adopt without your spouse joining the adoption).

Please realize the information contained on this web site should not be construed as legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship between us. It is simply here as a means for me to provide you some basic information for you to use when deciding on whether or not you need to hire an attorney. Because each case is different, it would be impossible for us to provide legal advice on a web site.