Step-Parent Adoption

What Step-Parent Adoption Does

A step-parent adoption is an adoption order made by the family court under section 51(2) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, on the application of one person who is the partner of the child's parent. It gives you parental responsibility for the child. Your partner keeps theirs, so the two of you hold it together.

The order also changes who the child's parents are in law. The child is treated as if born to you, and as the child of you and your partner and of no one else. The other birth parent's parental responsibility ends, as does any child arrangements order and, with limited exceptions, any duty under an agreement or court order to pay maintenance for the child after the order. GOV.UK describes an adoption as permanent once the order is granted, so you remain the child's legal parent if your relationship with your partner later ends.

Adoption is for a partner who is not already the child's parent. If the law has treated you as a parent since the birth, for example after fertility treatment to which you consented as the mother's spouse or civil partner, see donor conception and legal parenthood. After a surrogate birth, legal parenthood is transferred by a parental order or by adoption.

Who Can Apply and the Conditions

Each of these conditions in the Act has to be met:

• you are aged 21 or over
• you and the child's parent are a couple: married, civil partners, or two people living as partners in an enduring family relationship
• you are domiciled in a part of the British Islands, or have been habitually resident there for at least one year ending with the date of the application
• the child is under 18 on the date of the application and has never been married or in a civil partnership
• the child has had their home with you at all times during the six months before the application
• you gave your local authority notice of intention to adopt not more than two years, and not less than three months, before the application

GOV.UK confirms that you do not have to be a British citizen to adopt. An order cannot be made once the child has reached 19.

The notice goes to the local authority (your local council) for the area where you have your home, and it starts that authority's work. It must investigate and report to the court, covering your suitability and the welfare matters in section 1 of the Act. The court cannot make the order unless the authority has had sufficient opportunities to see you and the child together at home. GOV.UK says a social worker prepares the report, which covers your partner, the child and the other birth parent.

Consent, Welfare and the Alternatives

In a step-parent case the court cannot make the order unless each parent or guardian of the child consents, or the court is satisfied that their consent should be dispensed with. Parent here means a parent with parental responsibility, so it covers your partner and, where they hold it, the other birth parent. Consent must be unconditional and given with full understanding of what is involved.

The court can dispense with consent only where the parent or guardian cannot be found, lacks capacity to consent within the meaning of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, or the welfare of the child requires it. A father without parental responsibility is outside the consent rule, but the local authority's report has to cover the steps taken to inform him of the application.

The child's welfare throughout their life is the court's paramount consideration. It must have regard to the child's wishes and feelings in the light of their age and understanding, to the likely effect of ceasing to be a member of the original family, and to the value of the child's relationships with relatives continuing. It must consider its whole range of powers, must not make an order unless that is better for the child than not doing so, and must consider whether there should be arrangements for contact.

Other orders can give a step-parent parental responsibility without ending the other parent's legal status, including:

• a parental responsibility agreement or court order under section 4A of the Children Act 1989, available where you are married to, or the civil partner of, a parent who has parental responsibility; the agreement is made by both parents where the other parent has it too
• a child arrangements order naming you as a person the child is to live with, which gives you parental responsibility while that part of the order is in force

Evidence and Common Problems

Form A58 asks for a certified copy of the child's full birth certificate, written confirmation that you notified the local authority, a certified copy of your marriage or civil partnership entry if you rely on one, and a copy of any final order about the child made in proceedings you were party to. Health reports are not required where the applicant is the partner of the child's parent.

The points that need most care:

• the six months must be unbroken and the application must fall inside the notice window, so take advice first if the child has lived elsewhere for part of the time
• an unmarried couple has to show an enduring family relationship
• refused consent: you ask the court to dispense with it and attach a statement of facts, which the court sends to each parent or guardian
• a parent who cannot be found: the court can give directions about tracing them
• the report: the local authority recommends whether the order should be made and, if not, puts forward alternative proposals

Nationality and immigration are separate questions. Under the British Nationality Act 1981 a child who is not a British citizen becomes one from the date of a UK adoption order if the adopter is a British citizen on that date. In other cases speak to our family immigration solicitors.

How the Step-Parent Adoption Process Works

In outline:

1. Advice on the route. We check the conditions against your facts and compare adoption with the alternatives, so you apply for the order that fits your family.
2. Notice. You give your local authority notice of intention to adopt, and its investigation and home visits begin.
3. The qualifying periods. You apply once three months have passed since the notice and the six month condition is met.
4. The application. GOV.UK says a stepchild adoption is applied for by post, on form A58, sent to the family court. The court fee is on the GOV.UK adoption court order page, and people with little or no savings who get certain benefits or have a low income might be able to get help with court fees.
5. Issue and directions. Under Part 14 of the Family Procedure Rules the first directions hearing must be within four weeks of issue unless the court directs otherwise, and the court may give its directions without one. The court timetables the local authority's report and, where a parent in England or Wales is willing to consent, appoints a reporting officer to witness the signature.
6. If the application is opposed. The court decides whether consent should be dispensed with. The child is a party in some cases, for example where the child opposes the order, and a child who is a party has a children's guardian unless the court is satisfied that one is not necessary to safeguard the child's interests.
7. The final hearing. The rules say the court cannot make the order unless you and the child attend, though it may direct that either need not. If the order is made, the General Register Office creates an adoption certificate, which replaces the original birth certificate and shows the child's new name.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• the other parent has parental responsibility and is likely to refuse consent, or cannot be traced
• the child has a relationship with the other parent or that parent's family, which the court has to weigh
• a child arrangements order or a maintenance arrangement is in place and would end with the adoption
• you are not married or civil partners, so section 4A is not open to you
• you or the child are not British citizens, or you have lived abroad in the last year
• you are a birth parent who has been asked to consent, or has been served with an application

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

Our family solicitors at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, a short walk from Tower Bridge, advise on step-parent adoption as part of our adoption, surrogacy and fertility work. We start with a free 15-minute consultation and say honestly whether adoption or another order is likely to suit your family.

We prepare the notice, form A58 and any statement of facts, deal with the local authority and the court, and represent you at the hearings. We also advise birth parents on consent. RakLAW does not offer legal aid; our charges are on our family law fees page. Other kinds of adoption are covered on our adoption and international adoption pages.