Adoption in Kansas.......?

Question

My friends fiancee wants to adopt his ex girlfriends daughter and he wants it to be a 50 50 custody type deal...But he has been told that they have to be married... is this true??? he is actually marry his ex adopt the girl and then divorce her, my friend is very upset because the woman that he is going to marry is a little...well psycho for lack of better words....and she is affraid that she will want to be "with" him now that they are married.....is there a way to adopt a child in ks with out living with the mother and still allow the mom to be "mom" legally.... And in case you wonder they are doing this to prevent anything from happening incase the mom dies..because the real dad is a convicted child molester and they want to keep him away......please help!!!!! thanks!!

Answer 1

He can adopt without being married.    

The real issue here has to do with the natural father.  He will have to sign away his parental rights in order for this to happen.  

There are much better ways of handling this situation than having your fiance adopt his ex-girlfriend's child.  Mom needs to discuss this situation with legal counsel.  The fact that the father is a convicted s*x offender would make it such that his rights to be near any children, even his own, are most likely taken from his already anyhow.

It sounds to me like she's trying to get her hooks into your fiance in one way or another and his pity for the little girl is getting him to fall for it.  If he adopts her, realize that he may have to start paying child support depending on the financial status of each of them.

Answer 2

Here is the way the family code reads:  

"In Kansas, any adult can adopt. A married couple must adopt jointly, unless the person seeking to adopt is the stepparent. In a stepparent adoption, the natural parent, who is the spouse of the stepparent, does not have to join the adoption."

Contact an adoption attorney, and let them guide you.

Good luck!