Various gossip columns indicate that Tom Cruise has not seen Suri, his only biological child in over a decade. This reminds me of many situations that occur with my clients in stepparent adoptions.
Stepparent adoptions occur when the biological parent is married for at least six months and the stepparent petitions to adopt the step child. Both biological parents are required to be notified (or served) with this petition.
The non-possessing parent can object, but in two primary circumstances, consent is not necessary: 1) When parent has not had contact with child in at least one year; 2) When parent has failed to provide minimum support for the child in the last year or more.
With Tom Cruise, he is reported to pay all expenses for Suri including $400,000 per month child support until Suri is eighteen. However, if Katie Holmes finds the right person to marry and that marriage is at least six months old, she can have her spouse adopt Suri due to abandonment in Ohio, and it would be granted regardless of Tom’s consent. However, all support would be terminated along with Tom’s rights, so with $400,000 per month child support, adoption would not be petitioned for at least until Suri turns 18.