Complete Your Family with Relative Adoption in Iowa
Whether you are currently raising a young relative in your home or have a family member who is making an adoption plan for her baby, adopting a relative can be a rewarding experience that benefits you, the child, and his or her biological parents. Here, learn how to file for relative adoption in Iowa.
How Do I Adopt a Relative’s Child in Iowa?
There are several important steps you must take to legally adopt a family member. While the kinship adoption process can vary somewhat based on each family’s circumstances, the following gives a general explanation of how to adopt a relative in Iowa:
- Obtain consents from the child’s birth parents or file an action to terminate their parental rights
- File an adoption petition with the court
- Finalize the adoption with a hearing
- Obtain a new birth certificate and social security number for the child
Nelson Law Firm can quickly, safely and efficiently guide you through all of the above legal procedures for relative adoption. If you are adopting a family member within the fourth degree, you will not need to complete an adoption home study or post-placement visits, which helps keep the process relatively simple and the cost of adopting a family member low.
How Relative Adoption Can Benefit Your Family
Relative adoption, also called kinship adoption or family adoption, is common for grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and other relatives who are currently raising a young relative in their home. For these relatives, it can be challenging to serve as a child’s primary caretaker without having parental rights for him or her.
By completing the legal relative adoption process, the adopting relatives can gain full parental rights and responsibilities for the children they love and care for, which is important for a number of reasons. Relative adoption:
- allows you to make important medical decisions for your child.
- provides you with access to your child’s important medical records.
- simplifies common parenting tasks, like picking the child up from school.
- entitles your family to certain social security benefits.
- ensures inheritance rights and insurance benefits for the child.
- and more.
Most importantly, kinship adoptions can provide everyone in your family — especially the child — with the sense of permanence and stability that you deserve.
If you are ready to gain important parental rights for your young relative, contact Nelson Law Firm to learn more about kinship adoption in Iowa. Whether you are considering relative adoption in Waterloo, Grundy Center, Cedar Falls, or anywhere else in the state, we can provide the information and services you need to get started.