Adoptions

Areas of Practice -> Divorce Law -> Adoption

Child adoption occurs when a person is granted legal parenting rights over someone who is not their natural child. Unlike guardianship, adoption creates a permanent legal bond between the adopting adult and the adopted child. Adoptions are often pursued through adoption agencies, but a child’s natural parents can also deal directly with the prospective adopters. Referred to as private adoptions, these adoptions are usually facilitated by an attorney who practice family law. Private adoptions can occur between parents who live in different states or even in different nations.

While an adoption is pending, a social service investigator or a representative from an adoption agency usually screens the adoptive parents. During the screening process, several office interviews and a home visit will take place before a written report advising for or against adoption is filed with the Court. In most states, adoptive parents are required to have temporary custody of the adoptive child before the adoption takes place in order to monitor the parent child relationship in the home. Throughout the adoption process, legal documents that require the aid of an attorney must be prepared and filed.

One of the greatest fears of adoptive parents is that the child’s natural parents will change their mind during the adoption process or shortly thereafter. But while most states have a waiting period before an adoption can be finalized, the waiting period usually lasts no longer than 72 hours after the child’s birth. The only exception is when the birth parents live in a state that follows the Uniform Adoption Act, which allows them up to 8 days to change their mind. In either case, after the waiting period elapses, the birth parents’ legal parental rights are officially terminated.