Adoptions
Helping Families Grow Through Legal Care
Adoption is a beautiful, life-changing experience. However, the legal processes required to finalize an adoption are complex and require meticulous attention to detail. A single error in filings, notifications, or termination of parental rights can delay proceedings or jeopardize the placement. At Canyons Law Group, we provide thorough, supportive guidance to ensure your adoption is legally sound and finalized smoothly.
We represent birth parents, step-parents, relatives, and adoptive couples throughout the state of Utah, handling all court proceedings, consents, and home study reviews so you can focus on welcoming your new family member.
Our Adoption Practice Areas
We handle all types of adoptions under Utah law, including:
- Step-Parent Adoptions: Formalizing the relationship between a step-parent and step-child, including the termination of the biological parent's rights (either by consent or court action).
- Agency Adoptions: Coordinating with licensed adoption agencies to finalize placement, review contracts, and represent adoptive parents in court.
- Private & Independent Adoptions: Assisting in matches made directly between biological parents and adoptive families, drafting direct consent documents and interstate agreements (ICPC) when necessary.
- Relative & Kinship Adoptions: Helping grandparents, aunts, uncles, or siblings establish legal guardianship and permanent adoption of a relative child in need of a home.
- Foster Care Adoptions: Representing foster parents in finalizing the adoption of a child placed in their care by Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS).
- Adult Adoptions: Formalizing legal parent-child relationships between adults, often to establish inheritance rights or solidify long-standing family bonds.
The Step-Parent Adoption Process in Utah
Step-parent adoptions are the most common type of adoption we handle. The process generally involves:
- Consent or Termination: The biological parent must either sign an official consent to the adoption, or the court must find grounds to terminate their parental rights (due to abandonment, unfitness, or failure to communicate/support).
- Marriage Length: Utah law generally requires the step-parent to have been married to the custodial biological parent for at least one year, and the child must reside in the home for at least six months.
- Final Hearing: A judge will review the petition and sign the adoption decree. The child receives a new birth certificate listing the step-parent as their legal parent.