Adoption

You already supply the love; let us supply the “legal” to make your family whole.

The happiest moments spent as a family law attorney are when a judge signs the final judgment of adoption and “legally” completes our clients’ families.

Even though getting the opportunity to adopt is often a lengthy process, having a child come into your life is the easy part. The hard part starts after adoption…. the love comes easy, but it is raising, protecting and teaching that child to become an independent adult that takes time and patience.

Traditional Adoptions

Although we do not currently participate in a birth mother outreach program for traditional adoptions, we can assist prospective parents who have contacted a birth mother and the birth mother wishes to place the child for adoption. We can guide you through all of the necessary steps prior to the child’s birth including setting up the home studies required prior to a final adoption, working with the birth mother and father, assisting in pre – adoption placement, termination of the biological parents’ rights up through the happy day when the judge enters the final judgment of adoption.

Domesticating Foreign Adoptions

When your child was born in a foreign county and you completed the adoption in that country, there is still another step once you return to the United States. The adoption from a fore ign country must be domesticated, meaning, the adoption must be “adopted” and legalized in a Florida state court. There are a number of steps that must be completed here in the United States to do mesticate your child’s forei gn adoption. We can guide you through this process step – by – step to complete that “red, white and blue adoption.”

Stepparent Adoptions

When a spouse wishes to adopt his/her spouse’s (the legal parent) children, this can be done through a stepparent adoption. Although the stepparent adoption process is relatively simple, a prerequisite to moving forward with a stepparent adoption requires that the rights of other birth parent be terminated. This pro cess is streamlined when:

• The other parent consents to relinquishment of his/her parental rights;
• or The other parent is deceased

Even if the other parent is alive and will not relinquish his/her parental rights, if that parent has neglected, abandoned or abused the child, then we can pursue terminating that parent’s rights and if the court grants the termination then the stepparent adoption can proceed.

Second Parent Adoption

If your partner has a child, and is the legal parent of the child, but your partner and you are not legally married, you may be able to adopt through a second parent adoption. Even if a couple has a valid established domestic partnership, that does not give one partner legal rights to the child of the other partner. The only way to establish this legal parental relationship is through a Second Parent Adoption.

As with a Stepparent Adoption, this requires the consent of the other legal parent unless that parent is unfit, and his/her parental rights are terminated by the court. However, this process is a bit more complicated and costly as it requires a home study , parental fitness tests, more paperwork and a number of other prerequisites to complete the adoption process.

Whether you are a heterosexual couple or you are a same sex couple, without a legally recognized marriage, the only way to secure parental rights to your partner’s child is through a second parent adoption. Although day – to – day this may not be an issue, if something happens to your partner, without this second pa rent adoption you have no legal rights to the child. These are important decisions that should be discussed and acted upon now…not when it might be too late.

The Law Office of Cindy S. Vova, P.A.is here to help make your dreams of parenthood a reality. Call user email us at info@vovalaw.com to discuss your adoption options