Not all parents are perfect. Our notoriously high divorce rate is indication enough of that. While divorcing parents suffer during the breakup on their marriage, children suffer in family breakups even more. Things can get even worse for children when a divorce proceeding reveals a major problem with one parent’s parenting due to violence or substance abuse. Seattle family law lawyers unfortunately frequently encounter cases where one parent’s contact with children is greatly restricted or even prohibited.

While it may be best to separate children from some parents in some cases, children still suffer some ill effects when they live with only one parent. One possible solution according to Seattle family law lawyers is step parent adoption. When a custodial parent remarries, that step parent can adopt step children, an arrangement that may help stabilize a child’s home life after a traumatic divorce.

However, two issues should be kept in mind. First, Seattle family law lawyers are generally not parenting or mental health professionals, and so the decision to enter into a step parent adoption situation should be made with the advice of other professionals regarding the child’s well being. Second, before a child may be adopted both legal parents must consent to the adoption. This means that the non-custodial parent’s parental rights must either be extinguished or voluntarily relinquished. Seattle family law lawyers recognize that this can put the non-custodial parent in a bad spot as giving up one’s parental rights might mean losing contact with their child forever, but doing so might be in the child’s best interest considering the circumstances.

The Seattle family law lawyers at McKinley Irvin are thoroughly experienced with step parent adoption and other kinds of adoption. Our Seattle family law lawyers handle their custody and adoption cases knowing that the important thing is a child’s best interests and not “defeating” the other parent’s intentions. Several legal solutions involving visitation agreements between the parties are used by Seattle family law lawyers to craft the best solution. If you have questions about adoption or any other Seattle family law matter, contact McKinley Irvin today for some sound advice from some of the best Seattle family law lawyers around.