Can I adopt my stepchild if the bio parent is in jail in Wisconsin?

Yes, you can file a stepparent adoption in Wisconsin even though your stepchild's other parent is in jail, but how the court handles that parent depends on the facts of your situation. Here is what Wisconsin law sets out.

Who can adopt: Under Wis. Stat. § 48.82, a Wisconsin resident may adopt if they are married to the child's parent. Wisconsin has no minimum residency period, so you do not have to wait a set number of months before filing.

Abandonment: Wisconsin addresses abandonment in Wis. Stat. § 48.415, and the period listed there is 6 months. If the parent in jail has had little or no contact with your child, that statute is the one to look at. Whether a particular parent's time in jail, letters, calls or visits meet the legal definition is a question about your specific facts. Ask the Circuit Court clerk in your county or an attorney about that point.

Termination: Wisconsin does not treat termination of the other parent's rights as a separate step in a stepparent adoption. Your paperwork is prepared for one Circuit Court case.

What to expect in your case:

• Court: The petition is filed in the Circuit Court in your county.
• Home study: It is waived for stepparent adoptions under Wis. Stat. § 48.88, so you do not need to schedule one.
• Your stepchild's consent: Wisconsin does not require the child's consent. A child 14 or older attends the hearing unless the court orders otherwise.
• Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Wisconsin typically take 3-6 months.

Notifying the parent in jail: How the other parent must be notified, and how that works when they are in a particular facility, is something the Circuit Court clerk in your county can explain. The clerk can also tell you the filing fee and local forms.

If the parent objects: If the parent in jail wants to contest the adoption, the case becomes more complicated. The same is true if you are unsure where the parent stands or whether anyone else has legal rights to the child. Those situations turn on the details, so talk to an attorney about that specific issue.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your Wisconsin county. You then file it yourself without an attorney. The cost is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. Court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 385 Wisconsin families and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.