Adult Adoption in Texas

[HappyFace]

My daughter will be 18 on June 26, 2009 and would like to have my husband (her step-father) adopt her. They are both consenting to this arrangement. Since she will be 18, I am under the impression she will not have to have permission from her biological father. I divorced her biological father in Smith County, Texas in 1997. We now reside in Williamson County, Texas, and have lived here almost 10 years. I have all of the paperwork from form books from the library, but I need to know if we need to file the paperwork in Smith County (where the divorce was held) or if we can file in Williamson County (where we currently reside). The forms mention jurisdiction and I am unclear as to whether there is continuing jurisdiction in Smith County in the original divorce case since she will be an adult when the papers are filed. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Yes, Texas law does recognize adult adoption and since she is over 18 (or will be very soon), you should be able to do this without consent of the birth father. However, even a seemingly simple adoption can soon get tricky in Texas. My best suggestion would be to speak with a family law attorney. You could get a referral through WLD by going to their main page. Hope it all works out. AJJ

Can you tell me where you found this form book or forms. My husband is 29 and having to be adopted by his biological father, because his mom made a "mistake" when he was born and we cant have the non-biological father taken off. This adult adoption is our loop hole into having his biological father as his actual father of record. ( I know it sounds complicated ) I am wanting to file this ourselves, we have already done a guardianship for my sister, and name changes for us and our children all through the courts with no legal assistance. The only issue that I am having right now is not being able to find these forms so that I can file them. Can you point me in the right direction?