If the other parent agrees with the adoption, either you and your spouse or the other parent must request a consent hearing. The consent hearing is where the other parent officially consents to the adoption by signing the consent form in front of a judge or referee.
When you are at the court filing your papers, ask the clerk if you can get a consent hearing date or if the court will schedule the hearing for you and send notice by mail. If the court will take care of scheduling and notice, you can skip this step.
If you are responsible for giving notice, ask if the termination hearing will happen directly after the consent, or if you will need two different hearing dates. If there will be two separate hearings, make a copy of the Notice of Hearing form before you fill it out.
Make two extra copies of the Notice of Hearing if your stepchild is older than 14 and/or your stepchild is a member of an Indian tribe or qualifies for membership. You may need the copies later.
Fill out the Notice of Hearing form using the information the clerk gives you. Include the date, time, location of the hearing (including the courtroom or hearing room number), and the name of the judge or referee. Include the judge’s or referee’s bar number if you know it.
In the blank space below this information, under the words “state the nature of the hearing,” write as follows:
-Consent of Noncustodial Parent to Stepparent Adoption
If termination of parental rights will be covered at the same hearing, also write the following:
-Termination of Parental Rights of Noncustodial Parent
-Placement of Adoptee (Stepparent Adoption)
At the bottom of the form, write in the date above your name.
Make a copy of the Notice of Hearing. File the original and keep the copy to serve on the other parent. If your stepchild is older than 14, make another copy of the Notice of Hearing to serve on your stepchild. If your stepchild is a member of an Indian tribe or qualifies for membership, make another copy to serve on the tribe.
If you must send notice of the hearing to a prior court (see Step 11), be aware that you must do so at least 21 days before the date set for hearing.