2009 Louisiana Children's Code :: CHC 1243 - Persons who may petition for intrafamily adoption

CHAPTER 11. INTRAFAMILY ADOPTIONS

Art. 1243. Persons who may petition for intrafamily adoption

A. A stepparent, stepgrandparent, great-grandparent, grandparent, or collaterals within the twelfth degree may petition to adopt a child if all of the following elements are met:

(1) The petitioner is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity through a parent recognized as having parental rights.

(2) The petitioner is a single person over the age of eighteen or a married person whose spouse is a joint petitioner.

(3) The petitioner has had legal or physical custody of the child for at least six months prior to filing the petition for adoption.

B. When the spouse of the stepparent or one joint petitioner dies after the petition has been filed, the adoption proceedings may continue as though the survivor was a single original petitioner.

C. For purposes of this Chapter "parent recognized as having parental rights" includes not only an individual enumerated in Article 1193, but also:

(1) A father who has formally acknowledged the child with the written concurrence of the child's mother.

(2) A father whose name or signature appears on the child's birth certificate as the child's father.

(3) A father, if a court of competent jurisdiction has rendered a judgment establishing his paternity of the child.

Acts 1991, No. 235, §12, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1992, No. 733, §1, eff. July 6, 1992; Acts 1993, No. 634, §1, eff. June 15, 1993; Acts 1997, No. 256, §1; Acts 1999, No. 695, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1062, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 2000; Acts 2001, No. 567, §1; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 65, §1, eff. April 18, 2002; Acts 2007, No. 111, §1; Acts 2010, No. 190, §1.