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Adoption
jacksjerseygirl
member
Organizing Adoption Paperwork (pre, post & finalization)
jacksjerseygirl
member
in Adoption
I finally spent the morning organizing all of Grant's paperwork. I already had a file folder from pre-adoption but post-adoption I hadn't had time to get all of the legals put in and his medical stuff.
I can't stress enough having a good organization system pre-adoption and even having room made for post-adoption/placement/finalization paperwork + a system for organizing all of the new baby stuff (medical records, vaccinations, etc).
Even though I thought I was fairly organized pre-game ... it has taken me 4 months now to get everything finally put together.
So for those interested in filing tabs and stuff that we have for G's adoption:
File Case One (no particular order - this is mostly all of the lead up forms and some of the post placement/finalization forms that we won't really need to pull out on a regular basis. I have kept most of the pre-stuff in here because it will be good to have for when we get ready for adoption #2 (even if it needs updating a bit)
General Adoption Information
General Agency Information
Agency Applications
Home Study (all encompassing including copies of reference letters)
Profile Information (including questionnaires, essays)
Medical Exams/Reports (ours)
Background Checks (including finger printing and child abuse clearances)
Birth/Marriage Certs (originals) + DL Copies
Child Proofing/Safety Plan (agency did not require the home be child proofed but have a plan going forward as the child grew)
Cord Blood Bank Info
Child Care Info (general information about our plans and researched options)
Employment Letters
Financial Forms/Info (all encompassing including copies of tax forms)
Health Insurance (copies of insurance card front/back + written letter from company about how to add an adopted child)
Vet Records (on top of copies of receipts from when our cat was vaccinated we also had to provide a letter from Vet about his health, mannerisms and vaccination record)
Adoption Receipts (including copies of checks and a ledger itemizing all checks/fees associated with the adoption journey)
Match Agreement and General Terms (part of the post-placement docs)
Legal Risks and Disclosure Forms (part of the post-placement docs)
Picture/Contact Agreement (part of the post-placement docs)
Attorney Information (part of the post-placement docs)
File Case Two (Post-Placement/ Baby Documents - this is the one we will use the most going forward) This is the file folder I use for this set of documents: https://www.adoptshoppe.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=501
Birth Certificate & Social Security Card
Insurance Paperwork (including letter from insurance company as to when they added DS) and information about BM retroactivated medicaid to cover hospital bills)
Immunizations & Vaccinations (the first one was given at birth - you should get that at time of discharge if you or BM consented to it)
Pediatrician Visits/Health Care Receipts (I four folders for this: marked B-12 mo, 1-2yr, 3-5yr, 5+ years. We had our first documents on day 3 as we were required to get a follow-up post-birth check-up before travelling)
Child Care Information (similiar to the other one but this one is specific to his current child care as opposed to the folder in file #1 which was our 'plan' and researched options)
Birth Records (we received discharge paperwork at time of placement but then about 2 months later we received additional medical records cleared from the hospital through the agency - of course they blacked out all identifying information of the BM)
BM Delivery Records (we got these 2 months later as well with all of her admitting paperwork, delivery information, as well as post birth. This included all toxicology screening pre and post as well - all identifying information was removed)
Medical/Health Legal Release (notarized document we recieved a few days after placement that gave us legal medical rights/care of DS even though we do not have legal rights as his parents yet until finalization. It's important to have this with you at all times of travel or visits to ER- even more so IMO if your child is a different race than you until finalization)
Biological Parent Information (this was the social and medical history forms that the agency provided us at time of considering the match)
Birth Parent Contact (this includes contact information we have for birth parents and I print every single email I sent to and receive from DS' birth mother).
Thank You Note Tracker & Registry
Post Placement Home Study Report/Recommendation
Finalization Documents (I'm sure that once we start receiving these documents there will be more than just one file for it)
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Organizing Adoption Paperwork (pre, post & finalization)
NO KIDDING! I think there are probably about 100+ pages of post placement forms (not even getting into finalization forms).
I remember on day 3 the agency fex-ed us a large packet to the hotel and said - here go have these signed and notarized.
We were so exhausted and there were probably 30 documents that needed to be notarized ... I just remember sitting at the bank (where they were being notarized and money was being transferred) writing my signature over and over and over ...thinking ... I could be signing away ANYTHING right now and not know it.
Thanks, Jacks - great info. I have our papers organized for now - but I'm sure the volume increases exponentially once you get a placement. I think that keeping the documents in some sort of portable file is a great idea, too. I would imagine it's handy for visits to the agency, attorneys, etc. And for Foster-adopt moms, for toting to court and other visits, if needed.
The organizer from Adopt Shoppe is super cute! If someone is on a tight budget, though, I picked up a briefcase-style file organizer at Wal-Mart for about $6. It's not nearly as cute, and you have to make the tabs yourself, but it does the job for now.
The first file folder is just that. A black expandable plastic folder with no-frills tabs. You need one that is durable (splurge for the heavier duty plastic not the lighter weight one but it isn't that much more) since you will want to take it with you when you fly/travel to meet your LO.
My second file folder is the cute adoptshoppe one - I wouldn't say it is nearly as durable as a cheaper version that you can get at any office store/walmart. But it will work for simply filing stuff and not necessarily travelling. But it is cute for post-baby docs.
I have two HUGE 4 inch binders one is busting at the seems and one is halfway full and we have not even brought DD home yet. I see another one in my near future at least. I thought that if everything was in binders that I could easy fine things and it is not loose.
When it is all said and done I will place them on the book shelf with the custody battle binder I have with my other two kids. When each child is ready to look at all the stuff about them I have it ready to go. My other kids know it is there and have never asked to look through it but if they do it's there the good, bad and ugly.
I converted everything into PDFs and have them backed up on our computer (with the exception of forms with raised seals, the like the final adoption decree).
Here's my BIGGEST piece of advice--every time you send ANYTHING to your agency, send it with a cover letter and KEEP A COPY. At some point, someone WILL loose something, and this way you can just make another copy and send it off again.
IA acceptance paperwork is excrutiating--copies in quintiplicate, black ink only, and you can't make any mistakes. No white out or crossing out. Gave me a panic attack almost.
That's a really good idea - PDF conversion. I may do that once everything is finalized - so I only have to do it once.
And, I completely agree with you about copies. Everything I sent I copied (even the sticky note or cover letter) and put it in the appropriate file section.
Thank you! That's such a useful (if daunting!) list. At the moment everything's in the binder our agency gave us, but it's already getting full & we haven't even met with the SW yet.
Funnily enough, I came across that baby briefcase on Amazon yesterday, & emailed the company about it. They're currently planning an adoption version of it (I'm not sure they know just how much paperwork it'll need to hold!), but it's not due out yet.