Becoming a Step-Parent: A Legal Perspective

For our LTHOME fans that are not aware, LTHOMES’s number one priority is creating safe and comfortable homes for families through fresh, innovative approach to affordable housing. LTHOME achieves this by building affordable townhomes and condos, with modern and beautiful design and construction. This process focuses on detailed attention in every aspect of construction to provide long-term comfort to all residents.

From time to time, we publish articles covering legal topics that Michael Cutnall and Remi Baring-Gould, who write these articles, believe will be useful to our clients, family and friends. We write these articles, in part, because we want to help our clients and family and friends better understand legal issues that may arise in their lives. Generally, we strive to draft articles that cover a broad range of topics which may be applicable to you or someone you know.

This article will specifically discuss how to become a step-parent to a child. The steps to becoming a step-parent are similar to the steps to building a comfortable home over a period of time. Both processes involve selecting appropriate items that suit your needs and desires. A step-parent becomes legal guardian of a minor child by making an application to the court and having a judge issue a court order. There are some important requirements that must be met: Once all of the appropriate applications have been gathered, the step-parent or guardian applicant must take them to the court for filing. There is a fee that must be paid to the court.

If the court accepts the application, a date will be scheduled to have a hearing regarding the application. At the hearing, there will be one judge and an employee of the court called a case reviewer. The case reviewer will review all of the receipts and proofs to confirm that everything required has been submitted and the fees have been paid. Once that is completed, the case reviewer will meet with the judge to determine whether the application can be approved. The guardian applicant must answer any questions posed by the judge. The judge may also ask questions of the child regarding his or her wishes. S/he must also confirm that the child is comfortable with the proposed guardian. The judge will then sign an order that confirms the guardianship if the case reviewer and judge approve the application.

During the process of how a step-parent can become a legal guardian, the old guardians will need to be present for the hearing if they are still living. The guardianship will not become active until all of the old guardians have given consent and appeared in court. If passed, the new guardianship will come into effect at the end of the hearing with the judge. When the guardianship becomes active, the child will receive a new Social Insurance Number (SIN) and health care card. If required, the guardian may be able to make application to become the legal guardian of the child’s assets as well. To do this, an application must be submitted to the remedy judge with the appropriate filing fee.

It can be a lengthy process to become a step-parent to a child. Further, it may be necessary to go through this process to either obtain a court order allowing a step-parent to take a child out of the country or act on behalf of a child. These steps are important in order to ensure that both step-parents and step-children are protected by law. LTHOMES’s core values focus on building a strong foundation for families, both with respect to family leadership and with regard to the good materials used in our construction. In a legal context, the same can be said for legal guardianship. If one of the child’s parents is away, it is important to obtain guardianship for the child so that the step-parent can act in their interests, both legally and emotionally.