While guardianship and adoption both concern the care and welfare of minor children, the differences between the two are many. Both are used to grant legal authority to care for a child to someone other than the child's biological parents; however, the circumstances under which each arrangement is warranted vary significantly.
Guardianship
Guardianship is a legal arrangement that grants an individual, called a legal guardian, the legal authority and responsibility to care for another individual, called a ward. Parents who plan in advance of their passing often name legal guardians. Parents can also appoint guardians while they are still living on either a short-term or long-term basis for various reasons. With mitigating circumstances, a guardian can be requested and appointed by the court without the consent of the parents.
Adoption
Adoption is a process where an individual or couple (such as a husband and wife) assumes the legal position as a parent for a child that is not biologically their own. In contrast with guardianship, adoption is permanent and the biological parents permanently lose their parental rights. In Texas, adoptive parents can request an updated birth certificate to remove the biological parents' name and replace them with their own, but they are not entitled to financial support.
Implications
Guardianship is appropriate when parents are temporarily unable to care for their children. Parents who take a vacation, attend a long business trip or become physically incapacitated can arrange a guardianship to ensure the children are cared for and the caregivers are able to make pertinent decisions in their absence. Parents can also prearrange "lifelong" guardianship for minor children in anticipation of death or permanent incapacitation.
Guardianship can be arranged by the court on a temporary basis to remove the child from the home while the court is determining the parents' fitness or investigating allegations of child abuse or neglect.
Adoption is warranted when a minor child no longer has a biological parent able to care for her. This may be due to death, where the child becomes an orphan, but can also happen when both of the child's parents voluntarily terminate their respective parental rights or are deemed unfit parents by the court. Adoption is irrevocable and as such, is only appropriate when the parents have no intention of reversing the arrangement.
Responsibilities
The legal guardian is responsible for the ward's daily care, similar to a parent's responsibility to a child. Guardians also handle the ward's legal and financial matters and make decisions regarding the ward's medical care. Guardians can seek child support from the parents under Texas law.
An adoptive parent also assumes the exact same responsibilities that a biological parent would normally have, but retains permanent physical and legal custody. An adoptive parent is considered equal to a biological parent in terms of both responsibility and authority by the state of Texas. Adoptive parents are not entitled to child support from the biological parents under Texas law.
Arrangement
A guardianship can be formed in two ways: voluntarily at the behest of the ward's parents, or involuntarily by order of a judge. In the former, the parents name a guardian, and the guardianship agreement can be changed or revoked at any time by either parent. In the latter, parents may still alter or terminate the guardianship, but must petition the court to do so.
Adoption can also be arranged voluntarily between the biological parents and the adoptive parents. It can also be arranged privately, through either a state foster agency or a private adoption group. Unlike guardianship, adoption cannot be reversed by the biological parents, although in rare circumstances, the parents can seek to dissolve the adoption by petitioning the court.
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