Filing your Wyoming stepparent adoption doesn’t have to be difficult.

We understand that filing for a stepparent adoption is an extremely important time in your life. It can be stressful and the process can seem overwhelming. We guarantee that your Wyoming stepparent adoption documents will be accurate and that the court clerks will accept them for filing as meeting or exceeding their standards, or you get your money back – 100%. We can make this guarantee because we make it our mission to make sure our documents are complete and up-to-date with the newest court regulations. If we don’t make it right, we’ll refund your money – 100%.

Wyoming Adoption – Information you should know.

We know how important is it for you to do the research on filing your Wyoming adoption online. Our highly experienced staff will help you through the process. Please review the information below to educate yourself on filing a stepparent adoption in Wyoming, and then our staff will help you with any questions.

In Wyoming, the person filing for the stepparent adoption is referred to as the “Petitioner” and the absent parent is referred to as the “Defendant”. The petitioning stepparent will file the legal adoption documents that we prepare for you with the court. This will start the adoption process. An uncontested adoption means that the other parent is not going to file additional documents with the court objecting to the adoption.

Most of the stepparent adoptions we do for customers have one of the following circumstances:

• The absent natural parent is deceased.
• The absent parent has abandoned the child or children, by failing to maintain a meaningful relationship with the child(ren), and failing to provide financial support for the child(ren). In many situations, the absent parent’s whereabouts are unknown.
• The absent parent believes that the adoption is in the child’s best interest, and agrees to sign a consent to the adoption.

Please note that if the other parent has regular contact with the child and pays child support, you will not be able to complete a stepparent adoption in Wyoming unless the other parent is willing to sign a consent to the adoption.

Where will you file your stepparent adoption documents?

The documents are filed with the clerk of the District Court in the county where you and the child reside. When the stepparent adoption is finalized by the Court, your adopted child will receive a new birth certificate showing the new parent listed on the birth certificate, and also showing the child’s new name.

Prior to filing your Petition for Adoption with the District Court in your county, you must have been a bona fide resident of the state of Wyoming for six months prior to the filing of the petition, which residency must be stated in the petition and proved at the final hearing (Drivers License, etc.). If both parties currently reside in the state, then there is no time period required.

Grounds for the termination of parental rights.

The grounds which typically justify the termination of parental rights in a stepparent adoption involve abandonment, failure to support the child, imprisonment, certain abuse, and other grounds. The grounds for the termination of parental rights are different for each state, but all states accept the grounds of abandonment and lack of support, and some states include other grounds.

In you are unable to get the consent of the other parent to your stepparent adoption in Wyoming, then you can still proceed with the adoption as long as one of the grounds as outlined in W.S. 1-22-110 has been met:

• The other parent has been given notice of the hearing as provided in W.S. 1-22-107 and has failed to answer or appear at the hearing.

• The other parent has willfully abandoned or deserted the child.

• The other parent has willfully failed to contribute to the support of the child for a period of one (1) year immediately prior to the filing of the petition to adoption and has failed to bring the support obligation current within sixty (60) days after service of the petition to adopt.

• Willfully permitted the child to be maintained in or by a public or private institution or by the department of family services for a period of one (1) year immediately prior to the filing of the petition without substantially contributing to the support of the child;

• Failed, within thirty (30) days after receiving notice of the pending birth or birth of the child, to advise or notify the agency which gave the putative father the notice of pending birth or birth of his interest in or responsibility for the child or his declaration of paternity.

• Been adjudged by a court to be guilty of cruelty, abuse, neglect or mistreatment of the child.
• Caused the conception of the child born out of wedlock as a result of sexual assault or incest for which he has been convicted.

• Willfully failed to pay a total dollar amount of at least seventy percent (70%) of the court ordered support for a period of two (2) years or more and has failed to bring the support obligation one hundred percent (100%) current within sixty (60) days after service of the petition to adopt.

It is not required to terminate parental rights of a parent who is deceased.

Visitation by grandparents or the absent parent.

Most states do not have any provisions for the visitation rights of the parent losing parental rights, or the grandparents associated with that parent. The State of Wyoming will recognize agreements for visitation by the parent losing their parental rights, but this is typically up to the discretion of the adopting parents.

WYOMING DISTRICT COURT: Address of some WY courts.

Our documents are for the entire State of Wyoming. If your county court is not listed below, then we will provided the court information when we send your documents to you.

You must file the adoption documents in the Superior Court in the county in which you are filing. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:

Laramie County District Court: 309 W. 20th Street, Room 3205, Cheyenne, WY 82003-0787 Phone: 307.633.4270 Fax: 307.633.4277

Albany County District Court: Albany County Courthouse, 525 Grand Avenue, Suite 305, Laramie, WY 82070 Phone: 307.721.2508

Sweetwater County District Court: Sweetwater County Courthouse, 80 West Flaming Gorge, Green River, WY 82935 Phone: 307.872.6448 Fax: 307.872.6439

Uinta County District Court: Uinta County Complex, 225 9th Street, Evanston, WY 82930 Phone: 307.783.0456 Fax: 307.783.0400

Johnson County District Court: Johnson County Courthouse, 76 North Main Street, Buffalo, WY 82834 Phone: 307.684.7271 Fax: 307.684.5146

Natrona County District Court: Natrona County Courthouse, 200 North Center, Casper, WY 82601 Phone: 307.235.9243 Fax: 307.235.9493

Campbell County District Court: Campbell Co. Courthouse, 500 S. Gillette Avenue, Ste. 2600, Gillette, WY 82716 Phone: 307.682.3424 Fax: 307.687.6209

Crook County District Court: Crook County Courthouse, 309 Cleveland, Sundance, WY 82729 Phone: 307.283.2523 Fax: 307.283.2996

Carbon County District Court: 415 West Pine Street, Rawlins, WY 82301 Phone: 307.328.2628 Fax: 307.328.2629

Court filing fees.

The court filing fees for an adoption in Wyoming are approximately $160.

Serving the absent parent.

In many stepparent adoptions, the absent parent may be willing to sign a consent form which consents to the termination of their parental rights and consents to the adoption. If the absent parent is willing to sign a consent this will make the process a little easier because the court will know from the beginning that all parties agree to the stepparent adoption. Many of our adoption customers don’t know the whereabouts of the other parent, or the other parent has such a disinterest that he/she just won’t sign any documents. In this situation, you will file the adoption documents and then serve the absent parent by one of the following options:

1. Whereabouts of the other parent are UNKNOWN: If you are unable to locate the absent parent after a diligent search, then you can serve the parent by publication. This means that a notice is published in a local legal publication. Typically publication is once a week for 4 weeks. The publication fee for the newspaper averages around $85, but varies depending on where you live. Upon the filing of the Affidavit, the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.

2. The parent just won’t sign, but grounds exist for the adoption: If you know the whereabouts of the other parent, but that parent won’t sign due to disinterest, you can have that parent served by the Sheriff’s department or a private process server. This can be done even if the other parent is incarcerated in jail or a federal prison.

Start your Wyoming Stepparent Adoption Today!