Can you adopt an adult in Texas?

 Posted on July 14, 2020 in Family Law

Adoption is a great way for a family-in-fact to become legal family. It’s used all the time in cases involving parents and minor children. But what if you want to adopt an adult? Can you do that in Texas?

You can. As long as the adult you want to adopt consents to the adoption. The process is actually fairly simple:

• You file the adoption petition. If you are married, your spouse must also be part of the petition and agree with the adoption.
• The adult you wish to adopt must consent in writing to the adoption.
• Both the petitioner (you) and the adult you wish to adopt usually must attend the hearing (although the court can waive that requirement if there’s a good enough reason)

Once the process is complete, the adopted adult is legally your child. (Bear in mind, this terminates the legal ties and inheritance rights that adult child may have with their biological parents.)

Why on earth would someone want to adopt an adult? Consider these scenarios:

• You have never had any children of your own. You have been a foster parent, however, and one of your foster children has “aged out” of the system but you are extremely close. You both wish that your relationship could be formalized.
• You have a stepchild that you raised to adulthood. You would have adopted them when they were underage, but their other biological parent objected to the process and prevented it.
• You’re in a same-sex marriage and the adult child is only biologically related to your spouse. You want to solidify your relationship so that there’s no question about inheritance rights or other issues.

Adult adoption serves a lot of useful purposes. If you think it might be something you want to consider, find out how an San Antonio attorney can help.