Q: My wife and I have had temporary custody of our niece since she was born.
Her mother was fighting leukemia and lost, and there is no father on the birth certificate.
Legally, is there anything that we need to know about or do?
This involves Texas law.
A: Well, it would help to have a little more detail about what you mean by temporary custody, and how long you've had it/how long your niece has been living with you. Do you mean that the niece has simply been living with you, or that there was a court order granting you temporary custody? If there was a temporary order, then you will want to go back to the court that issued it and try to get a final order. If not, you need to file a petition to adopt your niece.
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