Adoption
*~PAIF/SAIF welcome and encouraged!~*
legal aspects
we were chosen by a birth mother earlier this week. we met the couple yesterday and it went pretty well. she is due in a month, and says she is set on the adoption. I have some questions about how the process works; in my state, there is a 12 hour wait before mom can sign consent. after that finalization is in 30 days. what happens if mom changes her mind after consent but before finalization?
also, should I expect to be charged by my attorney, AND birth mom's attorney? i asked the paralegal yesterday and she said that was something our two attorneys would work out. which sounded strange to me...
thanks in advance if anyone has any info about these subjects!
*~PAIF/SAIF welcome and encouraged!~*
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Re: legal aspects
Not sure about the attorney fees. I would think you'd have to check with each attorney.
As far as the consent/finalization I can tell you what we had to do.
Her birthmom signed a consent to allow us to take our daughter home under Temporary Placement. She did not sign the Termination of Parental Rights until 30 days later. During that month that dd was home with us, her birthmom could have decided to parent at any time and we would have no legal right to the baby.
At the 30 day mark, she had her court date and signed her TPR. That was October and the adoption wasn't finalized in court for us until the following June. As soon as she signed her TPR, she could not change her mind and decide to parent.
Not sure if that helps. Sounds like maybe finalization is much faster in your state?
In my state, BM's can sign as early as 12 hours after vaginal birth, 24 hours after C-section. Our BM is a minor, so she had to have an attorney present when she signed TPR. Once TPR was signed, she cannot change her mind. We did not finalize for about 2.5 months after TPR.
As far as attornies, are you using an agency? Our agency paid for our BM's attorney, and we paid for ours. We also had to provide an attorney for BF (whom we could not find in order for him to sign TPR, so we had to have someone represent him and what was done to find him), but our attorney found a friend to step in for the hearing (our attorney did all the searching).