The Miears Law Firm

Are you in a position to adopt your Texas foster children?

2024-06-30T22:11:56Z

Foster placement is often a more efficient solution for growing your family than infant adoptions. Not only does adopting a newborn child often require tens of thousands of dollars in liquid capital or financing, but it is also a process that may require multiple years to successfully complete. Parents sometimes have to travel to other countries or have an adoption fall through in the last moments.

Compared with that stressful, expensive and often disappointing experience, adoption through foster placement is much simpler. The initial foster placement can occur in as little as a few hours when a parent or caregiver suddenly dies or the state becomes aware of a situation that endangers the children.

Foster placement is a temporary arrangement, but it often evolves into a permanent family situation. Are you potentially able to adopt the children placed with your family for foster care purposes?

Adoption through foster care is common

Serving as a foster parent often means developing a deep bond with the children placed with your family. You get to know them personally and become invested in their stories. You want to see them achieve their dreams and have the stability that comes from a family. Adoption after their foster placement in your home is a viable option that will make your foster children permanent members of your household.

However, there are certain rules for foster parents that want to adopt. You need to be over the age of 21, which you also need to be for foster placement to occur in the first place. You must be financially stable and willing to provide the state with information about your background, as well as access to your home. A state home study must occur, and workers will need to speak with everyone in the household to ensure that adoption is a good option.

Typically, if you qualify for foster placement of children who are not members of your family, you likely already meet the criteria for a foster parent adoption. While it can be challenging, successfully adopting the children placed in your home for foster care can be as beneficial for you as their new parent as it is for the kids. Learning more about the steps involved in a foster parent adoption can help you offer children that you love a permanent sense of home and family.

What happens when one parent won’t follow the custody order?

2022-12-21T20:44:35Z

It is natural for parents who have ended their romantic relationship with one another to see things differently. Disagreements are so common that custody orders are necessary. Parents who now live separately despite having minor children together will typically have to either make their own arrangements for parenting plan and then submit paperwork to the courts or litigate and ask a judge to divide both time with the children and authority over them. Judges expect that people will abide by the terms of a custody order once it is on record, and state law requires that parents cooperate with one another, including communicating honestly about the children and doing their best to uphold the established parenting schedule. Unfortunately, there are always bad actors who won't abide by those requirements. If the other parent won't let you take the children during your scheduled parenting time, how can you protect your relationship with your children despite their interference?

You need proof of non-compliance

In order to take any sort of meaningful action, you will need evidence that will hold up in the Texas family courts showing that the other parent has repeatedly interfered in your attempts to spend time with the children. Although it may be inconvenient to do so, that means you will typically have to arrive for scheduled visits even when they tell you ahead of time that they will not let the children go with you. Only when you make an earnest attempt to assert your parenting rights and get denied anyway can you then document the situation and ask the courts to enforce your rights.

You can file a motion requesting custody enforcement

Texas family law judges do not like to see one parent intentionally trying to prevent the other from spending time with the child or knowingly violating a custody order. The more documentation you have, the easier it will be to show a pattern of behavior to the judge that has disrupted your relationship with the children and violated the terms of the custody order. A judge can use that information to formally warn the other parent and advise them on how they must resolve the matter, frequently by adhering to the parenting plan and possibly by granting you make-up parenting time. If the willful interference in your parenting time continues, you can then present the records of those ongoing custody violations to the courts in the hopes of securing a custody modification. When one parent proves unwilling to put the children first and follow Texas law, they may put their parenting time at risk. Understanding how to overcome challenges in your co-parenting arrangements will protect your relationship with your children.

Grandparent adoption may be the only solution

2026-05-07T07:03:32Z

You and your spouse see the struggles faced by your grandchildren. The youngsters are not getting the attention, guidance and nutrition they deserve namely because their parents are substance abusers. This is no way for any child to grow up. After months of watching from a distance, the two of you see no other choice but to pursue the adoption of your grandchildren. You understand it will be a challenge due to the generation gap, but you are prepared and want to provide a more stable environment for them.

Nearly 3 million children live with grandparents

Increasingly, more grandparents are serving as the primary caregivers for their grandchildren, simply because the parents – for any number of reasons -- do not have the ability to do so. Roughly 2.9 million U.S. children lived with their grandparents in 2015, according to the Philadelphia-based The Pew Charitable Trusts. That number represents a 16% increase or 400,000 more grandparents raising their grandchildren than in 2005.

Certain factors play roles

Difficulties experienced by the children’s parents are among the reasons why grandparents, sometimes, are forced to fulfill the caregiver role of their grandchildren. A combination of any of these factors may play a role:

Abuse and neglect: The parent handbook does not include physical abuse and disregarding a child’s needs. A physically and mentally bruised child belongs in a different home.
Substance abuse: Alcoholism and drug addiction remain among the banes of society. The increased use of opioids has left many parents without the faculties to properly raise children.
Incarceration: Nearly 3.6% of U.S. children have at least one parent in prison, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Unemployment: The loss of a job may lead to financial hardship for a family, leading to parents doing desperate things.
Physical and mental health: A parent’s limitations due to medical and mental illnesses may prevent him or her from adequately raising children, while exposing the youngsters to hardship and anxiety.

When confronted by any of these problems, parents may become absent in more ways than one. This includes being absent from their children.

Ensuring a stable life

In these delicate situations, grandparents may feel that it is their duty to step forward and grab the reins of responsibility to adopt and raise their grandchildren. It just may be the best choice to ensure these youngsters have a stable life.

Here’s what you should know about child custody after a divorce

2022-10-20T18:42:47Z

Even the most amicable divorce is going to be somewhat stressful. You may be moving, your financial situation is changing, usually for the worse, and you have months or even years of social awkwardness to deal with. Minimizing the disruption to the life of your child will be among your top priorities. Fortunately, the divorce laws in Texas favor the best interests of the children. Here are the basics.

Custody options

Custody is usually assigned based on which parent was most involved with raising the child while the parents were together. Though custody can be negotiated, if the parents aren’t able to come to an agreement, the judge will usually favor the parent that did most of the heavy lifting. Sole custody - Though it’s certainly possible to argue and win sole custody of a child during a divorce, Texas courts prefer to avoid this. Sole custody means the child primarily lives with one parent and that parent has exclusive decision-making rights to direct the child’s upbringing. One parent is usually deemed unfit for parenting for one or more reasons when sole custody is awarded. Joint custody – In this arrangement, the child primarily lives with one parent, while the other parent has liberal visitation rights. Both parents are involved in decisions regarding the child’s upbringing. Shared custody - In shared custody situations, the child’s time in both residences is more evenly split. The child spends at least 35% of the time in both residences over the course of a year. Again, both parents are involved in directing the child’s upbringing. Split custody - In rare cases, split custody will be awarded when there are two children or more. In this case, each parent is awarded full custody of one or more children.

Required parenting classes

In an effort to minimize upheaval in the child’s life during and after the divorce, the courts will often require both parents to attend a divorcing parental coaching class. Divorce will not be granted until this class has been completed. It’s possible to complete this class in person or online and there’s a small fee for the class.

Other variables

The Texas Family Code establishes the best interests of the child. This takes into account the home environment with each parent, their respective financial and employment situations, the distance between residences, caretaker obligations, and any legal custody considerations. If the child is 12 years old or older, the child will have a say in these arrangements. Child custody cases can be complicated and sometimes quite combative. If you’re facing a difficult custody battle, consult an attorney about your options.

The two types of child custody in Texas

2022-10-20T18:03:05Z

A divorce or breakup means you no longer have a relationship with your spouse or partner. But you will never stop being a parent to the children you have together. Whether you are married or not, your love for your kids will never change. You want what is best for them and to be there for them as a provider, guide and companion. That usually means you want either sole child custody or joint custody of the children. But there is another form of child custody in Texas law that you should be aware of.

Joint Managing Conservatorship explained

Regardless of if parents have joint custody (known in Texas as joint conservatorship), custody orders usually name both parents as Joint Managing Conservators. This is commonly known as legal child custody, which refers to the right to make key decisions about the child's upbringing. Examples of decisions a parent with legal custody has the power to help make include:

Who the child's pediatrician will be
Where they will go to school
What religion they will be raised in, if any

Usually, the court grants legal custody to both parents, who then must work together to reach agreements on these important matters. However, if one of the parents can show the court that their co-parent is unfit to participate in child-rearing decisions, the judge can grant sole legal custody to the fit parent. Your child custody order must be in your child's best interests. A good order will meet that requirement and be reasonably fair and sustainable for both parents. Working with an attorney who knows Texas child custody law is key.

Welcome To Our Blog

2022-03-17T03:06:05Z

We established this blog to share stories and information about topics relevant to our practice. Our intent is to regularly provide posts highlighting legal issues of local, state and national interest that we think you will find interesting. Check back later for updates.