What if the biological parent lives in Texas but I live in another state?

Whether a Texas District Court can hear your adoption when you live in another state depends on where you and your child live, so confirm that with the District Court clerk in the Texas county involved or with an attorney before you file. The other parent's address matters, but it is only one piece of that question. Because this turns on your family's facts, the clerk or an attorney is the right source for it.

If your case does belong in a Texas District Court, here is what the Texas rules look like.

Court: Stepparent adoptions are filed in a District Court. Texas has 254 counties, and the clerk in the county where you file can tell you about local filing steps.

Residency: Texas sets no minimum residency period for filing (Tex. Fam. Code § 162.009). Whether your out-of-state residence affects where you can file is the point to confirm with the clerk or an attorney.

The other parent's rights: Texas looks at whether the other parent has abandoned the child, which is covered in Tex. Fam. Code § 161.001. That includes failing to support the child for at least six months. Occasional child support payments alone do not prevent an abandonment finding, and token contact does not either. Courts look at the whole relationship, including emotional support and overall involvement. Whether this applies to your situation is a fact-specific question. If the parent is contesting the adoption or you don't know where they are, talk to an attorney about that issue.

Your child's consent: A child who is 12 or older must consent to the adoption (Tex. Fam. Code § 162.010).

Home study: Texas waives the home study in stepparent adoptions (Tex. Fam. Code § 107.153(a-1)). This helps when you live far away, since there is less to arrange across state lines.