Creating Loving Families Through Adoption

I am J. Burton Hunter, III, a family law attorney who has been practicing in Buckhannon, West Virginia, for more than 30 years. I am available to help your family grow through the process of adoption.

I have represented clients in private adoptions, institutional adoptions, grandparent adoptions, foster parent adoptions and stepparent adoptions.

The most common type of adoption I do is the stepparent adoption. Stepparent adoption can help unite “blended families.” If you are seeking to adopt your spouse’s children from a prior marriage or relationship, I can help.

The Stepparent Adoption Process

Before an adoption can take place, the other birth parent must be notified. His or her parental rights must be terminated. Some birth parents who have never been involved in the child’s life agree to the termination of parental rights (TPR). Others contest this action. I handle both contested and uncontested TPRs as a prelude to stepparent adoption.

I’ve handled a case in which the birth father had abandoned his children and was willing to let the stepfather take over in order to get out of the financial obligation of child support. In another case the birth mother hadn’t seen her three beautiful daughters for three years. In that case, a foster mother fought hard to make those children her own.

I’ve also handled cases where a teenage mother allowed her parents to adopt her child, so that she could still play a role in the child’s life, like an older sibling or aunt.

Forming Families

Families can take many forms, but sometimes it takes a lawyer to form a family structure that is right for you and your children. To arrange a free initial consultation about your adoption questions and concerns, please contact my office. Call toll free 304-472-7477.