The decision to start a family or add another family member to your family through adoption is joyous and exciting, but it involves complex legal requirements. Those who wish to expand their family by adopting a child must be ready and willing to welcome a new life in their hearts and ready to deal with the state legal requirements.
To understand the California adoption process and available adoption options, you should do your homework thoroughly, including consulting an attorney who understands family law. Hiring an attorney to help you with California's adoption process is an excellent place to start if you want an easy time throughout the process.
Read this article to understand how an adoption attorney can help you acquire a child through adoption without a lot of headaches.
Basics of Adoption in California
Adoption is a legal process whereby a person (prospective parent) assumes the legal rights and responsibilities of parenting another child who isn't his/her biological son or daughter. Before you assume these child's legal rights and responsibilities, the child's biological parent must renounce their parental rights and responsibility to the child in an adoption court.
That means they have to put their consent to the adoption in writing. People choose to adopt children for different reasons. For example, you can adopt a child if:
- You cannot have children.
- You want to provide a new loving environment to a homeless child.
- The child is living with a disability, and you can make his/her life better.
- You want to expand your family.
Regardless of your reasons for adopting a child, you should expect numerous legal issues before you can start living with the adopted child safely. In California, any adult, whether married or unmarried, is eligible to adopt a child. When you choose to adopt, you have the option of doing it independently or through an adoption agency.
Adoption agencies are licensed and regulated by the state to place different children with prospective parents who want to give them a new home. These children are usually wards of the state, often because of abuse, abandonment, or are orphans.
On the other hand, independent adoption means you have to arrange the whole process with the child's biological parent, using a mediator's services, for example, a member of the clergy or a doctor. Independent adoption is delicate, and it is recommendable to have an attorney by your side before commencing this process. If you are wondering how an adoption attorney can help you, this blog article is for you.
How an Adoption Attorney Can Help You in the Adoption Process in California
The adoption process in California involves complex laws from the start to the end. There are federal and state laws that apply for prospective birth mothers and adoptive families. That means you should file your paperwork the right way and with the right department on time.
The adoption process is stressful and an emotional process, but it is not your job to handle legal matters if you have an attorney by your side. Even if you plan to adopt a child through an adoption agency, an attorney can help you understand complicated family legal matters that seem unfamiliar to your current adoption agency staff.
A reliable adoption attorney can help you prepare the right paperwork for your petition and attend all court appearances on your behalf. He/she will also organize your adoption process and outline your options to ensure you are meeting relevant state adoption laws.
If you consider adopting a child from another state, the whole process will become even more complex. However, if you have an experienced adoption attorney by your side, this process will be less of a hassle for you because he/she will prepare all the necessary court requirements on your behalf.
Developing an Outreach Plan for Adoption and Surrounding Legal Issues
Another reason you need an attorney is the development of an outreach plan for adoption. An adoption outreach refers to all the efforts you and your attorney take to find and be found by birth or expectant parents.
Your attorney can take your word out there about your desires to adopt as you spread the word as well to your close network and relatives. He/she can do this by using the internet and social media platforms to find potential birth parents or expectant parents who are willing to give out their children for adoption.
Typically, the attorney you choose can help you develop a practical and legally viable outreach plan personalized to your interests and needs of adoptions. Ensure you seek recommendations and take your time when finding an attorney to help you with the California adoption process.
You will depend on your attorney to address specific legal issues that may arise after developing an outreach plan. He/she can give you legal advice on matters that may arise during pregnancy of the expectant parent and after placement of the child. For example, he/she can help you during these challenging and emotional moments in the following ways:
- Determine whether the payments that the expectant parent requests during pregnancy are legal or permissible by California law
- Provide adoption counseling resources to the biological parent to enable them to adapt and deal with this challenging time
- Ensure full and legal termination of all the rights and responsibilities of the birth parent to the child
- Form a viable strategy to deal with specific state-by-state legal issues that single adoptive parents and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) face
As you can see, you cannot disregard the need for attorney's services through every step of the adoption process, even if you want to adopt a child through an agency. You cannot regret choosing to adopt or give a homeless person a new home as long as you meet all California adoption legal requirements.
What You Need to Know About Interstate Child Adoption and How an Attorney Can Help
If you live in California, sometimes you have to look further in your search for the right child to adopt. When adopting a child across state borders, you must meet numerous rules by the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children (ICPC).
ICPC was put in place to ensure every child subject to adoption goes through the right and legally acceptable adoptive procedure from one state to another. ICPC ensures transparency in the adoption process for both states (sending and receiving states) by ensuring the child’s adoptive placement is abiding by both states' laws.
If a child you wish to adopt falls within the requirement of ICPC, you must travel to the sending state and stay with the child for a few weeks, which is the right time to bond with your new family member. You will not leave the sending state until both state ICPC administrators approve your adoption request across the state.
You should retain an experienced attorney's services if you wish to adopt a child across the state to ensure compliance with both states’ laws and safe traveling of the child. As the adoptive parents, you must show ICPC officials that you are a safe family ready to provide home studies and a safe home for the adoptive child to stay and grow.
Your attorney can work with the other family's attorney in the sending state to prepare requirements by the ICPC in advance to ensure a safe and legally acceptable adoption. Remember, for the interstate adoption process to go forward, the child's birth parents must consent to this adoption after the termination of their parental rights by the court.
It is upon your adoption attorney to ensure there is no question about your legality for adopting a child across the state by ensuring safe termination of the child's parental rights and parents' consent.
Do I Need an Attorney for a Post-Placement Contact or Agreement With Birth Parent(s)?
After adoption, the child's birth parents might want to keep in touch with you to know the child's progress and well-being, which is okay and humane. However, it is up to you to decide if you want to allow post-placement contact from the child's biological parents or not.
Post-placement or post-adoption contact with the child's birth parents varies from regular photographs, and letters exchanged through your attorney to more open conversations involving phone calls, videos, emails, and scheduled visits.
If you allow post-placement contact, you will need an attorney's services to draft a post-placement/adoption agreement between you and the child's birth parent(s). A post-placement/adoption agreement ensures documentation and definition of everyone's preferences and understandings after adoption for future reference in case of disagreements.
Note that the new California laws allow some parental rights to the child to remain intact in a case where both parties (the adoptive family and the birth parents) have a common agreement. If this applies to your case, your attorney will let you know and guide you on making post-placement contacts with the child's birth parents as smooth as possible.
Tips for Finding an Experienced and Reliable Adoption Attorney
The key to a successful adoption process in California is finding an experienced attorney to take you through every step of the adoption process, including writing the petition and presenting it in court.
As seen above, an adoption attorney can help you in various ways to ensure there are no adoption-related questions about your legality to adopt a new family member. However, finding an experienced and reliable attorney in California is not a walk in the park because there are numerous attorney choices out there.
To narrow down your choices according to your preferences and interests, you should consider the tips below:
Check the Accreditation of Your Prospective Attorney by a Certified Adoption Agency/Organization
Most reliable attorneys out there are members of related adoption agencies or organizations. For instance, we have The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys (AAAA), a recognized organization for adoption attorneys nationwide comprising more than three hundred attorneys in the U.S and Canada.
For membership consideration in this organization as an adoption attorney, you have to complete more than fifty adoption cases successfully and agree to comply with ethical and "best practices."
While there are experienced adoption attorneys who are not AAAA members, this organization is the best place to start if you want to find an experienced and reliable attorney without much hassle. Another academy you should consider fetching an experienced and reliable attorney is The Academy of California Adoption Lawyers (ACAL).
ACAL is an organization of California adoption attorneys who have had more than 200 successful adoptions in the past. Ensure the adoption attorney you choose to hire for legal representation on your adoption case has accreditation or is a member of these types of academies/organizations for specialists.
Even if your attorney is not a member of AAAA or ACAL, he/she can be a member of another specialty professional organization if he/she has credible experience on these matters. Having an attorney who is a member of these organizations in their line of work shows that he/she is serious with his/her profession.
During your first consultation with your prospective adoption attorney, you should ask him/her relevant questions about these kinds of membership before you make any significant commitment. If the attorney isn't a member of any professional organization or agency, you should consider looking for other alternatives out there.
Do Your Research
Several experienced adoption attorneys are out there, but you have to do your homework or research to find the right professional who suits you. Before you settle for the services of any attorney, you should first exhaust your options. Look for an attorney with a license to carry out adoption legal duties around California across the state.
Apart from having a valid license, you would also want to ensure the attorney you choose has a credible reputation among his/her past clients after helping them expand their families through adoption.
A reliable attorney will have his/her reputation precede him/her after successful adoption cases. Ensure you request your prospective attorney to provide you with his/her past client contact details to inquire about their experience with the attorney to know what to expect before you make any significant commitment.
As part of your research, you should also visit attorney rating sites like Avvo to check your prospective adoption attorney ratings, which equals his/her quality of services. While on the internet, you might also want to check your prospective attorney's website to read his/her past client comments and complaints about his/her quality of services.
Clients are always right most of the time, meaning if two or more clients are unhappy with your prospective attorney services, his/her services are probably unreliable. Finally, to find an experienced and reliable attorney to take you through the California adoption process, you should also ask your colleagues, friends, and relatives for recommendations or referrals.
Having a referral from a friend or relative who has had experience or knows someone who has had an experience with an adoption attorney can help you reduce your options of attorneys available in your list.
Inquire About the Cost of Adoption
Before you embark on this life-changing process of adoption with your prospective attorney, you must be comfortable with his/her cost of services and all other additional costs of adoption. Ask your prospective attorney relevant questions about his/her cost of services to know whether he/she charges hourly rates or a fixed rate.
Before you commence with the adoption process, you should ask your attorney to provide you with an estimation of all the necessary costs that you are likely to incur. Understand that sometimes, emerging issues can come up, making you incur unnecessary expenses that weren't in your original budget.
Ensure you ask your prospective attorney to break down for you all the necessary costs of the adoption process, including his/her cost of services, so that you can prepare yourself ahead of time.
Trust Your Instincts
Finally, in your search for an experienced and reliable adoption attorney, it important to settle for an attorney's services whom you trust. When you keep your eyes and ears open during your first consultation with an adoption attorney, you should be able to notice red flags about his/her quality of services.
Look for an attorney who is accessible, meaning he/she doesn't have a busy schedule, for maximum attention on your adoption case. Before you settle for any attorney's services, you should feel welcome and at ease around him/her, considering how he/she treats you and responds to your questions.
If you feel your prospective attorney is not truthful in his/her response to your questions, it is because he/she is not honest and truthful. The key to finding an experienced and reliable adoption attorney in this field full of mediocre experts is trusting your instincts on every decision you make.
Find an Family Law Attorney Near Me
What does an adoption attorney do? This question is common among many people or couples wishing to start or expand their family through adoption. For more information on what an adoption attorney can do for you during an adoption process, we invite you to contact San Diego Family Law Attorney at 619-610-7425.
Our goal is to protect your preferences and interests throughout California's adoption process while maximizing your chances of having a smooth adoption process without time wastage.
