Craig Zotter & Associates

Adoptions

The Attorneys at Craig Zotter & Associates are here to help you through the adoption process. Our experienced attorneys represent clients throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania at all stages of the adoption process.

Clients at Craig Zotter & Associates receive attentive, personal service throughout the entire adoption proceeding. Our Attorneys are sensitive to the issues involved in adoption and are ready to assist you with your legal needs. You can find out if our adoption attorneys are right for you by calling 412-201-1111 or by contacting Craig Zotter & Associates.

Facts About Adoption

The parent-child relationship is as much a legal relationship as it is an emotional or biological one. Through the process of adoption, an adoptive parent gains all the rights and responsibilities afforded to natural parents, like the right to raise the child and make decisions about the child's education, religion, medical treatments and upbringing.

In the same way, adopted children gain the rights and responsibilities of a natural child of the adoptive parents, including the right to an inheritance, the right to receive child support, and a potential obligation to pay an aging or deceased parent's debts. Although child adoption is most prevalent, age is not a factor in adoption. Even a fully grown adult can be adopted.

Legal Requirements for Child Adoption

If you wish to adopt a minor child, your circumstances need to meet several requirements.:

  • Legally, a child can have only one mother and one father at any given time. For example, if a stepfather wants to adopt a child whose natural father is still living, then the natural father's parental rights must first be terminated. This can be either voluntary or involuntary.
  • If, in the above example, it is necessary to involuntarily terminate the natural father's parental rights, then the stepfather and mother would have to show that the natural father had abandoned or neglected the child. The same would hold true if gender roles were switched.
  • The court will hold an adoption hearing, at which time the adoptive parent will have to submit testimony and evidence to prove that he or she is a fit parent.

    • If you would like to learn more about child adoption, stepparent adoption, grandparent adoption or guardianship, you should consult with an experienced lawyer.