Can I adopt my stepchild in Wisconsin if the bio parent only has supervised visitation?

Possibly, but it depends on your facts. Supervised visitation is not a yes-or-no answer by itself. What matters is the other parent's actual involvement and whether grounds such as abandonment under Wis. Stat. § 48.415 apply. Wisconsin's abandonment period is 6 months.

How supervised visitation fits in:

• The visits themselves matter. If the parent has not used their supervised visits for a long stretch, that history may be relevant to abandonment. If the parent attends regularly, the situation looks very different.
• The court order is only part of the picture. What counts is what has actually happened since it was entered. Keep a record of dates, missed visits and any contact the parent has had with your stepchild.
• Contested cases need individual advice. How the Circuit Court treats a parent who has some contact but only under supervision turns on the details. For that question, talk with an attorney or the Circuit Court clerk in your county.

What Wisconsin does not require:

• Residency period: There is no minimum residency period. Under Wis. Stat. § 48.82, an eligible adopter is a Wisconsin resident, including a spouse of the child's parent.
• Child's consent: Wisconsin does not require your stepchild's consent. A child 14 or older attends the hearing unless the court orders otherwise.
• Home study: The home study is waived in stepparent adoptions under Wis. Stat. § 48.88.

Where it is filed: Your petition goes to the Circuit Court in your county. The clerk can tell you the current filing fee and local filing procedures. Wisconsin stepparent adoptions generally take about 3-6 months.

Documents worth gathering:

• A copy of the current custody and visitation order, including the supervision requirement
• Any records showing whether, when and how often the parent has attended visits
• Your marriage information and your stepchild's birth details

A realistic next step: If you are unsure whether the parent's history supports abandonment, or whether the parent is likely to contest, ask an attorney about that specific issue before you file. The Circuit Court clerk can answer procedural questions, though not legal advice about your case.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, including the details of the supervised visitation situation, and we prepare the complete court document package for your county. You then file it yourself without an attorney. The price is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. Court-ready documents are delivered 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.