Here is a general procedural overview of a typical step-parent adoption case in Missouri. The example will assume that a step-father is adopting his wife’s biological child. The biological mother and adoptive step-father will be referred to as the “Clients”.
1. Clients meet with attorney to discuss goals, procedure, fees, and gather information.
2. The attorney drafts Petition including grounds for termination of the biological father’s parental rights, and the Petition is provided to the clients to review.
3. Clients sign the Petition in front of a notary, and Petition is filed with the clerk’s office in the county of Clients’ residence.
4. A Missouri Highway Patrol criminal background check is conducted on the Clients as well as a Child Abuse/Neglect Registry check through the Missouri Department of Social Services. The results must be filed with the Court.
5. Expense affidavit is filed disclosing to the Court any fees incurred by the Clients relating to the adoption (this ensures to the court that there was no payment to a biological parent in exchange for an agreement to relinquish parental rights).
6. A Motion for Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is filed, and the court appoints an attorney to act as GAL to represent the interests of the child being adopted. This GAL may meet with the clients and conduct an investigation. Often the GAL does little if the case is uncontested. The GAL will make a recommendation to the Court at the final hearing on whether the adoption should be granted as in the child’s best interests or not.
7. A home study is conducted of the Clients (or may be waived by the Court if the case is uncontested).
8. Unless the biological father is deceased, an attempt is made to get the written consent of the biological father to the termination of his parental rights. The consent is typically a standard form promulgated by the Missouri Department of Social Services. The father’s signature will need to be either notarized or witnessed by two disinterested persons. The consent is then filed with the Court.
9. If the written consent of the biological father cannot be obtained, the father must be served with a summons and copy of the petition. This is done by having a deputy sheriff or court-appointed process server hand deliver the summons to the biological father, or an adult member of his household. In the event the father cannot be found (or his identity is unknown) service may be accomplished by publication. Service by publication requires court approval, after verifying to the court that personal service cannot be obtained. Service by publication is accomplished by a notice being published once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the adoption was filed.
10. NOTE: If the father does not consent to the termination of his parental rights, Clients must allege in their petition, and present evidence that the father has either:
a. a mental condition which is shown by competent evidence either to be permanent or such that there is no reasonable likelihood that the condition can be reversed and which renders the biological father unable to knowingly provide the child the necessary care, custody and control; or
b. for a period of at least six months, for a child one year of age or older (or at least sixty days, for a child under one year of age), immediately prior to the filing of the petition for adoption, willfully abandoned the child or, willfully, substantially and continuously neglected to provide the child with necessary care and protection.
11. 30 days after personal service on the father (or 45 days after the first publication), a hearing date will be requested by Clients’ attorney. The case is placed on the judge’s docket (calendar) for a date certain.
12. At the hearing date, Clients and their attorney appear in Court. When the case is called, Clients’ attorney presents evidence to demonstrate to the judge that the Court has jurisdiction to enter the adoption, that the adoption is in the child’s best interests, and that grounds for termination of the biological father’s rights exist.
13. At the conclusion of the hearing, assuming the adoption is granted, the judge will sign a Judgment of Termination of Parental Rights and Step-Parent Adoption, prepared by the Clients’ attorney. This judgment will also order the child’s name changed, if applicable.
14. The Judgment will terminate any future child support obligation of the biological father accruing after the date the judgment is signed.
15. Clients’ attorney will obtain a new birth certificate, naming the Clients as mother and father of the child, and listing the child’s new name.
16. Clients get a new social security card for the child at the local Social Security Office.