Adoption of Niece

[daboyz1]

My wife and I have a 15 year old niece in Chiang Mai. Her mother died two weeks ago. Her father is on the birth certificate, but has never been in the picture. The niece was born in Si Saket but has lived almost her entire life in Chiang Mai, and lives there alone now going to a private school. My wife, and the deceased mother were also born in Si Saket. We can't get a hold of the biological father.

I'd like to know if it's possible for my wife to adopt the niece. My wife holds dual U.S. and Thai citizenship. We're not looking to bring her to the U.S. at this point. It seems it would be a good idea for someone to be her legal guardian since she is a minor. My wife and I plan on moving back to Thailand at some point. Maybe 2 years maybe 5 years. No solid plans.

Does anyone know the process my wife would have to take to adopt out niece, or at minimum get the equivalent of guardianship?

Thanks in advance for helpful replies.

[benalibina]

No advice, but my compliments about your initiative. Best of luck.

[Mario2008]

I suspect htat the mother was not married to the father, so he is the biological fahter but not the legal father.

Adoption is possible, but you must decide on if you want a purely Thai adoption or an International adoption which would also be recognised by the US.

Adoption procedures are normally long, it is easier in case of a family adoption.

But the girls seems to be living in Thailand, while you are not. That will be a problem and at the least will mean an international adoption as you are not living in Thailand.

The girl will need a legal guardian, but it would be wise to have one that lives in Thailand and I suspect he court will prefer to appoint someone whith whom the girl lives.

Normally a family member will be apointed as the guardian, if the girl doesn't have any other relatives the chance of your wife becoming guradian are much greater.

[daboyz1]

I suspect htat the mother was not married to the father, so he is the biological fahter but not the legal father.

Adoption is possible, but you must decide on if you want a purely Thai adoption or an International adoption which would also be recognised by the US.

Adoption procedures are normally long, it is easier in case of a family adoption.

But the girls seems to be living in Thailand, while you are not. That will be a problem and at the least will mean an international adoption as you are not living in Thailand.

The girl will need a legal guardian, but it would be wise to have one that lives in Thailand and I suspect he court will prefer to appoint someone whith whom the girl lives.

Normally a family member will be apointed as the guardian, if the girl doesn't have any other relatives the chance of your wife becoming guradian are much greater.

First, thanks for your reply.

I checked with my wife, and you're correct in your suspicion. The mother was not legally married to the father, although he is listed on the birth certificate as the father and she has his family name. I'm not really concerned about having the U.S. recognize the adoption since she is 15 now and by the time we jumped through all the hoops, it's possible she would be an adult.

I've also considered the other options about having a legal guardian in Thailand. My wife's parents (the girl's grandparents) are pretty old. In their late 60s. The father in law has his head buried in a bottled of Lao Khao almost every waking minute. The mother in law is a decent hard working lady, but again she is old. Also, they live in Si Saket and the niece is in school in Chiang Mai. This leaves the brother in law. He actually lives in Chiang Mai, but I'm kind of on the fence with him. Some times he's a responsible guy and takes care of things. Other times he's wasted like the father in law. In fact he showed up drunk at the girl's private school once. My niece is still holding a grudge against him over that episode.

So that leaves my wife.

Currently the girl lives alone in a girls only apartment building, and quite frankly I don't think the school is aware of her family situation. She's basically been living there on her own for a couple years without any family nearby except for her uncle who she rarely sees. She seems to do well in the school, and is in the band, always has some school activities she's involved in etc. I'd hate to have to ship her off to Si Saket to go to the village school.

I suppose the reason I want my wife to be the legal guardian, is that she's not old enough to make any legal decisions on her own. I'm not sure what decisions she would need to make, but I'm sure there are many that I'm not thinking about. Acquiring a passport etc. I'm not sure if a guardian is required to enroll in university as well. Ideally my wife and I would move back to Thailand permanently, but that's not financially possible at the moment.

Sorry to ramble, but just walking myself through this. I'm not seeing any good options.

[Mario2008]

Under Thai law the girl will be considered a minor till she reaches the age of 20.

As a minor, she is not allowed to make a lot of decisions. You mention university, but also think about medical care. She can recieve life threathining medical care, but if she breaks her leg a doctor needs permisison from her legal guardian to treat her. (I know a 19 year old college student who had to wait till his parents arrived before the hospital could help him with his broken wrist).

So it does go very far and does show the need for an adult to be able to sign paperwork swiftly.

A judge will also depend on what the girl herself says. If she endorses your wife, it will carry weight with the judge. As will showing commitment to support her financially.

It will be possible to get guardianship while being away from the girl and leave daily authorithy with another person, or with the school. (I suppose that happens a lot with boarding schools).

But it is essential there is someone that can make decissions.

A good plan will cary a lot of weight with a judge.

[daboyz1]

Under Thai law the girl will be considered a minor till she reaches the age of 20.

As a minor, she is not allowed to make a lot of decisions. You mention university, but also think about medical care. She can recieve life threathining medical care, but if she breaks her leg a doctor needs permisison from her legal guardian to treat her. (I know a 19 year old college student who had to wait till his parents arrived before the hospital could help him with his broken wrist).

So it does go very far and does show the need for an adult to be able to sign paperwork swiftly.

A judge will also depend on what the girl herself says. If she endorses your wife, it will carry weight with the judge. As will showing commitment to support her financially.

It will be possible to get guardianship while being away from the girl and leave daily authorithy with another person, or with the school. (I suppose that happens a lot with boarding schools).

But it is essential there is someone that can make decissions.

A good plan will cary a lot of weight with a judge.

I've actually been supporting her financially for years now. I send the school direct wire transfers every semester and also send her money directly for her apartment and food etc. monthly. She will definitely endorse my wife. My wife raised her for a good part of her childhood until she came to live with me in the U.S. That's good to hear there is a way to assign responsibility to someone for emergencies and daily things, and leaving my wife to make the bigger decisions. The brother in law could handle that.

I thought I had heard the 20 year old rule before as far as being an adult. That's a lot further off than 18, so we should probably look into moving back there sooner rather than later.

My wife is actually at the Amphur in Si Saket right now talking to them. I'll come back and post when she gets some info.

Thanks again.