Those that have finalized DA

FinallyMrs.G

We will be finalizing early 2011 and we want to do a will specifically for guardianship for DD if something were to happen to DH and I. Is this something we would talk to our adoption attorney about? Also, what goes on in court at finalization? Who came to your court hearing?

Dr.Loretta

We're talking to another attorney about our will. He does estate planning and adoptions, so we figured he would be a good person to go to. We weren't fond of our adoption attorney and he's 2 hours away, so he wasn't really an option for us.

Finalization is the coolest thing ever We were called into court, and DH and I each took turns in the witness stand "testifying" about things like when/where we were born, when/where we got married, when DD was born, when she came to us, etc. Then we were asked if we understood that we were going to be responsible for her for the rest of our lives (that's about when the waterworks started). When the testimony was done, our lawyer read a statement recommending finalization of DD's adoption, and the judge read a statement granting the adoption. Then we all gathered around the bench for pictures!

It was only the 2 of us at our court hearing, but we were told we could bring people if we wanted. It was finalization day at our courthouse, so there were people with multiple family members there for the big day.

Amy720

As far as a will goes, I just got the documents online and filled them out.  I got them notarized and put them in our safety deposit box-simple as that.

The finalization was really neat.  We were in the judge's chambers and our attorney just asked us if we were willing to accpet the responsibility that comes with parenting and if we had bonded with Ben.  Ben was sitting in my lap at the time and he was putting his little hands on my face and cuddling with me. The judge looked at me and said she didn't have to hear our answer she already knew.  It was an amazing experience.  It only took about 20 minutes.  My mom and dad and MIL were in there with us.  Afterwards we went and filed it and filled out a form to get the updated birth certificate.  No stress at all and a wonderful day.

connor mom

It's funny...we had a totally different legal experience with Connor. We never had to go to court. The agency social worker and lawyer handled the only court date there was, with birth mother also in attendance. We were actually told NOT to come to the court date at the juvenile center...we got a call from the social worker on behalf of the lawyer/agency afterwards letting us know we were finalized.

 

It sounds like very different experiences, depending on where you live, what agency is handling things, etc.

goro28

We finalized our IA here, so the process is the same.  Our adoption attorney also does estate planning, so we're working on that now.

Our finalization was in September.  We met in the family court room.  Our atty asked us questions about our background, why we decided to adopt, if we knew what it meant, etc.  The judge asked a few questions and then banged his gavel and decreed that it was in the child's best interest that we become his parents.  I/m tearing up again just typing this out.  We then filled out some paperwork and took our family out to a late breakfast.  Our judge and attorney both said that we had the most people in the courtroom that they had ever seen.  There was my mom, MIL, FIL, StepMIL, my brother and his family, DH's sister and her family, so we had 15 people there with us to celebrate.  Because it was an IA adoption, it was also the day that Theo became a US citizen, in addition to legally becoming our son and having his name legally changed.