Merrisa L. Coleman-Bishop - Lesbian and Gay Parents' Rights

Attorney Merrisa Coleman-Bishop has helped many Bay Area gay and lesbian parents establish, protect, and enjoy their rights to healthy relationships with their children. If you need information about adoption, child support, or parenting time, contact San Jose same-sex parents attorney Merrisa Coleman-Bishop.

Domestic Partnership. Children born to gay or lesbian couples after the date of registering a California domestic partnership are the children of both partners. Each parent is equally responsible for nurturing and supporting the child, and in the event of the partnership's termination, questions of child support, custody, and visitation are determined in substantially the same way as they are in divorce cases.

Adoption.Lesbian or gay couples can adopt children on the same basis as straight couples, and homosexual or bisexual individuals can adopt in the same circumstances as heterosexuals. If an individual who has adopted a child later enters into a domestic partnership, the adoptive parent's partner can adopt the child as a stepparent.

Children from Prior Relationships. There is no legal parental relationship presumed between a gay or lesbian registered domestic partner and the other partner's child from a previous marriage or relationship. If the child's other parent is living and unwilling to waive his or her parental rights, stepparent adoption is not an option for the domestic partner. However, parental rights can be established even in the absence of a registered domestic partnership in cases where a significant parental bond has formed over time between the nonbiological parent and the child.

Second-Parent Adoption. The California Uniform Parentage Act recognizes second-parent adoption as a means of recognizing both partners as parents in cases where the child was conceived through artificial insemination, donated eggs, or other means whereby the donor retained no parental rights.

For specific advice about your situation, whether you're interested in adopting a partner's child or need help with a child custody issue where your relationship is breaking up, contact San Jose gay and lesbian parents' rights attorney Merrisa Coleman-Bishop.

San Jose same-sex parents attorney Merrisa L. Coleman-Bishop advises clients about the rights and obligations of lesbian and gay parents, including child custody, child support, stepparent adoption, second parent adoption, and visitation rights where a significant parental bond has been formed. Santa Clara County lesbian and gay parents lawyer Merrisa Coleman-Bishop serves Bay Area clients in Marin County, Alameda County, San Jose, Oakland, Gilroy, Hayward, Palo Alto, Union City, Milpitas, Fremont, Campbell, Cupertino, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Watsonville, Pleasanton, Danville, Dublin, and Saratoga, California.