Adopting Thai Step Daughter

[Mario2008]

They will have no problem having both Thai and US nationality, as many members of the forum have.

[submaniac]

Ain't necessarily so. In many, if not most cases, USA does not allow dual citizenship.

Yes it does. Thailand does too. Been discussed many, many, many times. I have both. Not a problem.

I am also in agreement with Mario2008 in regards to custody. If they were NOT legally married, the father needs to legitimize the child. Right now the mother is the only one with custody.

[nozmo]

Nozmo, there are 2 sides to this.

Thai side:

As Mario2008 says, the mother most likely has sole custody, it's just that she doesn't know. Ask the mother to go to the Amphur (bring the birth certificate and her id card) and request form tor por 13 (that's a form stating sole custody). With this, she can request a Thai passport without father signing. And that's the end of the Thai story. There should be no reason for the father to sign anything because he is not the legal father of the child (since they never married and he (most likely) didn't legitimate his child). Don't wake the father up though, he may see the possibility to get money and create problems

English side: Not sure, check with the British Embassy. I'd assume that you need to get the tor por 13 form stating sole custody translated to English

Many thanks for your replies.

I understand that but the father registered the child himself. We will see if we can get sole custody, without waking him up, but not sure if it is possible. Does my wife have to go to Thailand to do the tor por 13 or can the childs grandmother do it? We have just had a baby, 7 weeks ago, and obviously not in a position to fly to Thailand. We just want to get the ball rolling so we can bring her daughter over ASAP.

Thanks again!!

Edited January 28, 2010 by nozmo

[Mario2008]

It now seems that even registering the birth yourself doesn't make the father legitimize the child automatically.

Yes, the grandmother could do it, but maybe needs a power of attorney. Just a written permission from the mother, with her signature and a copy of her ID-card, stating that she gives permission to the grandmother to act on her behalf and get the form. (In Thai).

Have the grandmother contact the amphur first, maybe it isn't necessary to have a power of attorney.

[SNGLIFE]

Just an overdue update: I was able to change my daughter's surname to mine exactly as I described previously.

We went to the local district court in the USA, the wife filed a petition as the biological mother to change our daughter's surname, and BAM four weeks later the court order arrived in the mail stating that her official name in the USA is henceforth my surname.

Still trying to do the same in Thailand, but the problem is that the clerks do not know/understand the written Thai law about the mother's right to do the same WITHOUT the biological father's consent. We showed them the law in the lawbooks, but they refused to aknowledge it (!!!). Worse, their arguement is that I am not the "owner" of my surname "[my] mother and father own my surname" so since I am not the owner of my own name, I cannot give it to my daughter (!!!). Really, that is their position. Even worse, as far as we can determine, the local amphur is the only authority that can make the change. One would think that we could appeal to a higher authority, but nobody (lawyers included) that we have talked to knows anything - and seem to be too lazy to dig into the law books - to find the law(s) or authority that would help us. They all seem to be stuck in one gear - international adoption - even after shown the law that says my wife can do it on behalf of our daughter.

So, her name change in Thailand is on pause for now. It is not critical enough to want to pay a lawyer a bazillion baht just to flip through the family law code. It would be more convenient for us all to have the same last name, but it doesn't affect any legal stuff we have going on now or in the future, so we may have to wait another 10 years for her to be of age to do it herself.

[maxjay]

I have a question for those of you who have been successful: what was your total costs, from beginning to end, to achieve your goal of adopting your stepchild?

[catwho]

If the son /daughters name is in mothers surname[birth/cert] and with a signed letter from 3 relatives, at the ban amphur.to show sole custody would it be be enough to change surname.wife was told to go to bkk to do it,by local ban amphur.a lot eaiser option to adoption.

ta cat

[Mario2008]

If the son /daughters name is in mothers surname[birth/cert] and with a signed letter from 3 relatives, at the ban amphur.to show sole custody would it be be enough to change surname.wife was told to go to bkk to do it,by local ban amphur.a lot eaiser option to adoption.

ta cat

What is your question?

The mother has sole custody if she was never officially married and the father didn't legitimize the child. That is shown in the records of the amphur, I believe K.R. 13 form confirms this.

Changing the name of the child will only change the name of the child (In case of a foreign name it might not be allowed, unless it is the name of the father. There are rules that a name must have a meaning in Thai). It doesn't give any legal rights.

What do you want to accieve with adoption is soemthing you must consider first. A Thai adoption will not be recognised by your own country, an international adoption will be but must be according to the rules of both Thailand and your own country and will be more lenghty. Benefits would be that they child might also get your nationality.

[bifftastic]

There's a reason why changing a name is easier than adoption, it doesn't mean anything (other than the person now has a different name)!

There are many people in the world with the same surname as me, some of them are children, that doesn't make them my children!