Riverside Adoptions Lawyers

Adoption is the legal process of creating a new parent-child relationship. Adoption grants the adoptive parents all of the legal rights and responsibilities to the child being adopted. The adopted child gains all social, emotional and legal rights as a blood born family member.

Prior to the adoptive parents assuming full legal rights to the child, the court must determine that the biological parents have, with full understanding, legally relinquished all of their parental rights or that those rights have been terminated due to a court order.

If the adoption is approved by the judge, then it is finalized and an Adoption Degree is issued. At this point, the child’s legal name is changed and an amended birth certificate is issued, which states the names of the new adoptive parents and the child’s new legal name. The original birth certificate along with any other adoption documentation is sealed and unavailable.

There are many different types of adoption, giving adoptive parents many choices in expanding their family:

• Fost-Adopt: A child is placed in the care of specially trained fost-adopt families before the child’s biological parents have terminated their parental rights and until the child is free to adopt to a permanent family. These families and parents must be specially trained as the majority of these children are infants.
• Infant/Newborn: A child is placed with its adoptive parents immediately or shortly after birth. These types of adoption arrangements typically take place while the biological mother is still pregnant.
• International: Adopting a child born to biological parents in another county. These types of adoptions usually take place and finalize in the country of origin.
• Waiting Child Adoption: Adopting a child from the U.S. foster care system.
• Semi-Open Adoption: The practice of exchanging information between adopting and placing parents. Both sets of parents typically exchange letters, photos and emails, either directly or through an agency.
• Closed Adoption: The adopting and placing parents never meet and know little or nothing about each other.
• Step Child Adoption: When a stepparents assumes financial and legal responsibility for his/her spouse’s child/ren and the non-custodial parent is released from all parenting responsibilities.
• Older Child Adoption: Adopting an older child (adolescent/young adult) from the foster care system.
• Relative Adoption: Adoption that takes place within the family (grandparents, aunts, uncles). Usually less formal and less stringent than “stranger” adoptions.
• Special Needs Adoption: Adopting a child with special needs (a disabled child).
• Military and Overseas Adoption: Special requirements and guidelines must be met to adopt a child into a military or overseas family.
• Adult Adoption: The adoption of any person over the age of 18.

Adoptions can be a long and confusing process for many couples. For questions or a free consultation to see how we can help in your adoption case, please call California adoption lawyer Eliana Phelps for your free consultation today.