Your Legal Rights as a Step-Parent

by Lawrence Reaves

Your child may view you, the stepparent, as the same as his biological parent, but in the eyes of the law, your abilities to make decisions for your stepchild are limited. The courts are trying to make sure that the legal rights of natural parents are protected as much as possible.

This might seem unfair or excessive in some cases; there are times where the stepparent is actually the responsible party, and the natural parent is absent or neglects the child. The frustration you might feel in this case is very understandable, but the law is the law. And in the eyes of the law, your rights as far as making decisions for your stepchild are limited at best.

Except for a case where you have legally adopted the child, you will not have a legal right to decide legal and medical matters for the child. This means that you do not have a right to make a decision on what school he goes to. This also means that you cannot make health or medical decisions on his behalf. This is the case even if the step child actually wants you to be involved in the process of making decisions on these items.

This would include such things as going with the child to an appointment with his doctor. Your decisions and opinions on medical and legal issues cannot overrule the natural parent's rights or decisions. This can be a frustrating and difficult challenge, because you may well have a natural bond with the child that is the same as that with a biological parent. This could be the case where the stepparent is home with the child regularly and the natural parent is working.

You need to also be aware that as a stepparent, you owe the child the very same duty of care in the home as to any child that might visit the house. This is the case for an emergency case as well. But remember: You cannot provide any authorization of a legal nature for any treatment of a stepchild in a medical center of any kind. Only the natural parent or legal guardian can give this consent.

There are some states, such as AZ, where natural parents rights can be given to the stepparent through a power of attorney document. It would then need to be signed and notarized by the parent. This would then give you the legal right to make decisions for the child. This document could be limited in time, and it also can be limited as far as to what rights and legal decisions the stepparent can be a part of. Remember though that this power of attorney form is not valid in all states, and the document is not permanent. In AZ, the document is only valid for six months. The document can be renewed, but it has to be only for another six months. The court is trying to ensure that there is no interference with the rights of a natural parent.

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