Parental Relationships of LGBT persons and their children

If you have need a best suitable service your Family Law experience, Parental Relationships of LGBT persons and their children with the great process!

Divorce Attorneys Houston: If you are the non biological parent to a child you should want to look for ways to legalize your relationship with your child in order to protect your rights. As a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) parent an adoption is the most logical and straightforward method of doing so. If you are able to adopt your child you will be recognized as the child’s legal parent and have all of the same rights and responsibilities as to that child as any biological parent.

Second Parent Adoption for a LGBT parent

If you are in a marriage or other relationship with a person who is the adoptive parent of a child, and you yourself are LGBT, you can establish those legal rights and responsibilities for yourself by getting a second parent adoption. As the partner of a legal parent, you can adopt the child without actually having to affect your partner’s already established legal rights and responsibilities to that child. There currently are no appellate cases (higher court) that directly comment or rule on this issue, but there are counties in Texas that have found that the Texas statutes that cover adoptions authorize this sort of arrangement and process for LGBT parents and their partners.

To give yourself the best opportunity to have a court find that this is appropriate and warranted in your situation you should consult with an experienced family law attorney who understands and is knowledgeable of the law and this process of second parent adoption. It is not a widely known procedure so interview attorneys until you can find one that is aware of your rights under the law. Those attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan would be a good place to start.

Examples of adoption cases that have worked successfully for LGBT families

Divorce Attorney in Houston: In Travis county (Goodson v. Castellanos), a female same sex couple wanted to adopt a child together. One partner adopted a child and the second partner later did a second parent adoption as we outlined above. A year later when the couple went their separate ways and ended the relationship, the first partner attempted to challenge the legitimacy of the second adoption. A Travis County judge ruled that the second parent adoption was not void. The fact was that the court that approved the adoption had jurisdiction over the case and that once an adoption is finalized there cannot be an attack on that adoption afterwards.

A second case that may be of interest to you all comes from here in Harris County. A Houston judge in Hobbs v. Van Stavern, ruled similarly that a child’s biological mother could not attack a second parent adoption three years after the adoption took place. These rulings should show you that an adoption, once approved by a judge who has jurisdiction over the case, is very difficult to overturn.

A Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship as a means to establish legal paternity of a child

There are other options besides an adoption that can allow you to have limited rights to a child that you are not the legal parent of. A Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship (SAPCR) is one such option. If you are able to gain custody rights to a child through a SAPCR case then you gain the ability to request custody and visitation rights to your child even if you and the child’s legally recognized parent cease to be in a relationship.

Despite the advantages that a SAPCR order does provide, it does not grant all rights and responsibilities of parentage to you. Your child would not be able to inherit from you if you were to pass away or be able to take advantage of Social Security Survivor’s insurance. If you are interested in making sure a child has the ability to inherit from you after you pass away an adoption is the preferred method to do so.

Texas case law related to SAPCR cases

Houston Family Attorney: A case in Beaumont, In re Smith, saw a same sex couple have twins via artificial insemination. When the children reached the age of four months both parents asked a court to become conservators of the children. The biological mother of the children later challenged an order that granted both parents the rights of managing conservators. On appeal, the court ruled that the non biological mother did not have the ability to initiate the initial SAPCR case because she had not yet had control, care and custody of the children for the requisite six month period that Texas law requires.

What other options are available to non-legal parents of children in LGBT families?

While adoption and SAPCR proceedings are the two most common methods to protect your rights as a LGBT parent towards children to whom you are not a legal parent. It is important to note that while I have stated that second parent adoptions are possible in Texas, and have even pointed out courts that have honored these processes on appeal, it is not a given that your second parent adoption will go as smoothly. The Texas Family Code has not addressed this issue as of yet which means that judges only have precedent from other courts to base decisions on. This means that your judge could theoretically not allow a second parent adoption in your situation.

With that in mind, a parenting agreement is another option that you can realistically pursue in order to establish yourself as a person with custody rights to a child. While a parenting agreement would not create legal rights in yourself a parent to the child in question this is an option that can be pursued as a last ditch effort to formalize your relationship to a child if you are a LGBT individual.

In so far as parenting agreements are concerned there are no cases as of yet in Texas (that I am aware of) that relate to this subject. This means that a court would look at an agreement as an attempt and intent to parent a child together instead of initiated a lawsuit to do so. The more specific you can be the better. If you and your partner can include language regarding rights, duties, child support, future plans for adoption, etc. a court is likely to be more willing to honor a parenting agreement like this.

Finally, you may have already found that because you are not the legally recognized parent to a child that you cannot access their medical records or even consent to medical care. Your partner as the legally recognized parent to your child can authorize you to make medical decisions for your child. If your parent is unavailable to give consent for emergency medical care it is crucial that you have the authorization from him or her to direct the medical care for your child. Keeping a copy of this authorization handy is a great idea for future reference.

Seek assistance when you have questions about how to proceed

Houston Family Law Attorneys: The last thing you should do if you find yourself in a LGBT relationship and need to assert your parental rights and responsibilities to a child is to do nothing. The second to last thing you should do is to proceed into a family law case without any knowledge of the law, the legal system and what outcomes you are likely to encounter. Hiring an experienced family law attorney can eliminate many concerns that you may have and can greatly improve your chances at achieving whatever goals you have set out for yourself.

Questions about your rights as a LGBT parent? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan

The attorneys and staff of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan take great pride in providing the best legal services possible to our clients. If you find yourself asking questions about the subject matter contained in today’s blog post or in any area of Texas family law please do not hesitate to contact our office today. We offer free of charge consultations where we can answer your questions and help you plan for a potential case ... Continue Reading