• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

can grandparents prevent an adoption?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

HRG

Member
This is actually for my sister in MA. My brother in law has sole custody of his 4 yrs old son, due to the child's mother passing away almost 2 yrs ago. The late mother's parents of course still get to see their grandson and they do all get along well. This is not any type of court ordered visitation. My brother in law and sister have talked about a step parent adoption of the child. My sister would love for this to happen, but is curious to know if the grandparent's (of the late mother's)can object or stop an adoption from occuring? What if they don't agree to this? They would never keep the child away from his grandparent's and the 'visitation' would remain the same even after an adoption, but do the grandparents have any legal say so in the matter?

Thanks
 


O

overseas2004

Guest
i cant tell you the law, but i can tell you that when my stepdad adopted me, years after my bio-dad had died, my bio-dads parents had to consent with the adoption.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
http://www.adoptionsolutions.com/general/state laws/ma_law.htm

Massachusetts Adoption Statute Summary

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210, Sections 1 to 11A (1998)

Who Can Adopt?
Any adult can adopt a person younger than him or herself, unless the adoptee is his or her spouse, or sibling, uncle or aunt, of whole or half blood. A minor may adopt the child of the minor's spouse. A husband and wife shall adopt jointly.

Who Can Be Adopted?
Any person who is younger than the adoptive parent can be adopted, unless the adoptee is a spouse, sibling, or uncle or aunt of whole or half blood.

Consent to Adoption

The following persons must give written consent to the adoption:

1. the adoptee's parents;
2. only the adoptee's mother if the child was born out of wedlock;
3. the adoptee, if over 12 years of age; and
4. the adoptee's spouse.
Written consent must occur later than 4 days after the adoptee is born.
Consent is not required if:
1. the adoptee is 18 years of age or older;
2. the court finds that it is in the best interests of the child upon considering the ability, capacity, fitness, and readiness of the child's parents to take parental responsibility and of the adoptive parents to take this responsibility;
3. the adoptee has been in the care of a licensed child-placing agency for more than 1 year, and there is then a presumption that the child's best interests will be served by granting the adoption and waiving required consents; or
4. notice has been sent and the person has not objected within a given period of time.
A person who desires to assert that he is the adoptee's father may petition the court for custody, unless his consent has been waived, or for any of the.above-mentioned reasons is not needed. The court will allow the person claiming paternity to take custody if it is in the child's best interest and if it finds that such person is the father of the child.
 

HRG

Member
Thanks for the replies and info.

It sounds as though she shouldn't have a problem adopting her stepson. She and my BIL do make a huge effort to keep the child involved with his grandparents and like I said, everyone gets along in this situation. They have an appt with a lawyer the first of next week and they will be talking about this to the grandparents this weekend, so we'll see. Thanks again guys!
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top