ALASKA STEPPARENT ADOPTION

                "Premier Alaska Stepparent Adoption Services."

ALASKA STEPPARENT ADOPTION

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 Alaska stepparent adoption documents will be accurate and that the court clerks will accept it 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%.

Alaska Adoption - Information you should know.

We know how important is it for you to do the research on filing your Alaska 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 Alaska, and then our staff will help you with any questions.

In Alaska, 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'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 Alaska 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 Superior 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 Superior Court in your county, you must have been a bona fide resident of this state of Alaska for six months (Alaska Statute 25.30.020) prior to the filing of the petition, which must be stated in the petition and proved at the final hearing (Drivers License, etc.).

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 is different for each state, but all states accept the grounds of abandonment and lack of support, and some states include other grounds.

In Alaska, the consent from the absent parent is not required, pursuant to Alaska Stat. § 25.23.050 under the following circumstances:

• The absent parent has abandoned the child for at least 6 months.

• The absent parent has failed to communicate with the child or provide for the care and support of the child for a perios of at least 1 year.

• Consent to adoption is not required from any natural father who was not married to the mother at the time the minor was conceived or at any time after conception and has never legitimated the minor child under the laws of the state.

• Receiving notice of the adoption proceedings and failing to answer or otherwise respond to the petition witin 60 days, and the court finds that the consent by the absent parent is being withheld unreasonably.

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 Alaska will recognize agreements for visitation by the parent losing their parental rights, but this is typically up to the discretion of the adopting parents.

Alaska Superior COURT: Address of some AK courts.

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

Juneau Superior Court: Courthouse, 123 4th Street, Juneau, AK 99811 Phone: 907-463-4700

Court filing fees.

The court filing fees for an adoption in Alaska is approximately $75, regardless of how many children are being adopted.

Serving the absent parent.

In many stepparent adoption, 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 is 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 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 Alaska Stepparent Adoption Today!