If you are a foster parent, family member or friend, having an adopting attorney is extremely beneficial. The adoption attorney will assist you throughout the adoption process and ease the stress of going at it alone. In most cases, foster parents are usually shuffled through the adoption process and do not have any legal representation. When you have an adoption attorney such as Tulsa, OK Adoption Attorney, you can rest assured that adopting children will be less complicated.
So What Does an Adoption Attorney Do?
An adoption attorney is a legal practitioner who has expertise in family law, especially when it comes to adoption. Adoption law firms consist of a group of attorneys who specialize in adoption law. The specialty ranges from independent adoptions to stepparent adoptions.
The entire legal process is taken care of by most adoption attorneys besides locating the potential birth parents for the clients. They are ideal for processes such as a relative, stepparent, and identified adoptions.
However, in certain cases, the attorneys may attempt to offer services like locating the birth mother of the child, overseeing the living expenses, facilitating communication and protecting the financial investments of the family.
Benefits of an Adoption Attorney
There are many benefits of having an adoption attorney on board. That is why most people consider hiring an adoption attorney to help them through the whole legal process of adoption. The benefits of an adoption attorney are explained below.
Understand the Process
The adoption process can seem overwhelming, especially someone who is adopting for the first time. An experienced adoption attorney will assist you in understanding the court process. The process of adoption will flow smoothly when you have legal representations with as few court appearances as possible.
Understand the Paperwork
Just like any other legal process, the adoption process requires plenty of paperwork. This requires an understanding of the paperwork which only an adoption attorney can assist prospective adoptive parents with. The attorney will help you understand the extensive paperwork that is required for successful adoption. An experienced adoption attorney will explain each document and its importance.
Negotiate Open Adoption Agreements
If an adoption where birth parents would still have knowledge or contact with the child is being considered, then an adoption attorney will help negotiate the language of the open adoption agreement to protect your best interests. A top adoption attorney will prepare a solid open adoption agreement which would leave little room for any future litigation.
Communication with Birth Parents
In certain adoption cases, the adoptive parents can avoid having any communication with the birth parents. By hiring an experienced adoption attorney, communication can be facilitated on their terms. When the attorney communicates with the birth parents, he or she will ensure that proper documentation of the negotiations and adoption terms are done.
Obtain Information about the Children
Anyone considering adoption through the Department of Family Services will need to have a complete understanding of the psychiatric and medical history of the child before adoption. When it comes to providing information to prospective adoptive parents, DFS is not usually forthcoming. However, the adoption attorney will assist in obtaining the psychiatric and medical records of the child to help you avoid adoption dissolution in the future or an adoption disruption.
Obtain Information about Birth Parents
DFS only provides some information regarding the birth parents. It can be particularly frustrating for prospective adoptive parents to decide whether they should adopt the child or not. However, it is important to know if the child had been substance-exposed or neglected by birth parents. As there are privacy laws in place, private adoption agencies and the DFS are normally unable or unwilling to offer such information to adoptive parents. The lawyer will assist you in obtaining all the necessary information about the birth parents and their background for adoptive parents to make an informed decision regarding the adoption.
Representation at Court Hearings
Anyone adopting through a DFS proceeding should be aware that the birthrights would still be present. Hence, prospective adoptive parents would need to be represented at all the team meetings and court hearings that concern the child. You must know exactly where the case stands and the issues that DFS will bring up to either complete the adoption or terminate the request.
Unfortunately, many potential adoptive parents attend hearings unrepresented by an experienced adoption attorney. This means that they never even get a chance to speak with the judge. When you have an adoption lawyer, he or she will help you and insist that you have a say in the court proceedings.
Although some adoptive parents decide on representing themselves in the adoption process, their best option is to have an adoption attorney by their side. Even though the adoption attorney cannot guarantee the outcome, he or she will make the entire easier for you to understand and will handle all the legal work.
When Is an Adoption Attorney Necessary?
Even though having an adoption attorney is vital to ensure that the outcome is in your favor, certain factors make hiring an adoption attorney necessary.
Interstate Adoptions
These types of adoptions are more common than you think. The ICPC governs such cases.
A go-ahead is mandatory from the ICPC administrators from both states before adopting parents can consider bringing the adopted child that they want to adopt across the state lines and into the state they reside in. The adoption attorney will make sure that you understand the regulations of different states as set by the ICPC and ensure that you comply with them.
Rights of Birth Parents
The adoption lawyer will help ensure that the rights of the birth parents are terminated legally before the child placement has been finalized. It is a rather complicated process, especially when it comes to rights biological father rights.
Open Adoption
There are only some closed adoptions that are done outside of inter-county in the United States. The attorney will inform his or her clients regarding open adoption as well as the process. He or she will navigate you through the process.