Archives for June 2021

Adopting a Member of Your Family

How Do You Go About Adopting an Extended Family Member?

In 2011, more than 1,000 children were placed in New Jersey with extended family members.

The Main Goal

The Department of Children and Families strives for the reunification of parents and children, but if this isn’t possible, the children will be designated as “legally free for adoption.” If a family member is available to adopt a child, the courts usually grant custody to this person over a nonfamily member. As a matter of fact, the most common type of adoption is that between a child and an extended family member.

Second Parent Adoption

One of the most common types of adoption is the “second parent” adoption. This is when a stepparent adopts a stepchild. In New Jersey, a stepparent may adopt a child if he or she is married to the biological parent. However, the parental rights of the noncustodial parent must have been severed.

This type of adoption is relatively straightforward. If the biological parent still has parental rights, the stepparent must obtain permission to adopt the child. This tends to be the most difficult type of permission to receive. In most cases, the stepparent acts as the child’s parent because the biological parent is not in the child’s life.

If the biological parent has parental rights, the stepparent may ask them to relinquish those rights voluntarily. This requires that the biological parent sever their parental rights by signing the designated form. Then the stepparent will be free to adopt the child after a background check and adoption hearing.

Parental rights can also be forcibly terminated, but this requires a court order.

Reasons a Biological Parent’s Parental Rights May Be Terminated

A biological parent’s parental rights may be terminated because he or she did not follow the recommendations of the Department of Child and Families’ Division of Child Protection and Permanency. The court may terminate a parent’s parental rights if it determines that this is in the best interests of the child. Finally, parental rights may be terminated after a biological parent is convicted of abusing, abandoning or inflicting cruel actions on the child.

If any of the above occur, the biological parent will not be able to gain custody of the child or be allowed to be a parent to the child again. Termination of rights also means that the custodial parent does not have to pay the other parent child support. The custodial parent also will not be required to reimburse the terminated parent for money that was spent on the children.

Foster Parents

Grandparents may be foster parents to their grandchildren. The state retains custody of the children in this case, but the grandparents have physical custody of them. The grandparents have many rights, but the biological parents retain their parental rights in some cases.

Custody or Guardianship

Grandparents also adopt their grandchildren in large numbers, but adoption is different from obtaining custody or guardianship of the children. With custody or guardianship, the biological parents keep their parental rights.

Guardianship or custody gives grandparents the right to enroll their grandchildren in school and make decisions for them. Grandparents can also obtain medical consent forms or powers of attorney that give them the right to make medical decisions for their grandchildren.

Adoption by Grandparents

In most cases, adoptions between grandparents and their grandchildren are open adoptions. However, there may be reasons grandparents may want to keep the adoption closed so that the biological parents do not have contact with the children. This occurs when the biological parent loses custody due to addiction, neglect, abuse or some other traumatic experience.

If the biological parent is resistant to allowing an adoption to take place, there are actions that you can take to ensure that you can adopt your stepchild. It requires the assistance of a New Jersey adoption attorney.

In order to adopt an extended family member’s child, the first thing that you should do is meet with a New Jersey adoption attorney. Donald Cofsky has several years of experience in adoption law. Contact us at (856) 429-5005. We are connveniently located in Haddonfield.

Is It Better to Adopt Domestically or Internationally?

Should I Adopt Domestically or Internationally?

Several children are ready to be adopted in the United States. In fact, 107,918 American kids are waiting to be chosen by families right now. In addition to that, Americans completed 19,942 international adoptions in 2007.

Should You Adopt Domestically or Internationally?

Before you decide to adopt domestically or internationally, it is a good idea to consider the following issues.

Age

If adopting a newborn baby is important to you, then you will have to decide to adopt domestically. International adoptions require that you adopt an older child. If, on the other hand, you were hoping to adopt an older child, you must be aware that one of the main reasons that adoptions are disrupted in America is because of the older age of the child.

A disruption occurs after the child was placed in an adoptive home before the adoption had a chance to be finalized. In this case, the child returns to the foster care system. Disruptions occur in 10 percent to 25 percent of the adoptions in the United States. Therefore, if you are happy to accept an older child, adopting internationally may be an option for you.

Time

International adoption can be predictable, but domestic adoptions may be less so. For example, in domestic adoption, the birth mother has the option of choosing the adoptive parents for her baby. Also, this decision could depend on several other factors, including which trimester the mother is currently in and the other professionals involved in the adoption. In most cases, this process may only take a couple of months.

Although an international adoption can be more predictable than domestic adoption, several things can disrupt the international adoption process, including changes in the country’s laws, a shift in the country’s feelings toward the United States and the economic situation in the country.

The Social and Medical History of the Children’s Birth Families

In domestic adoption, agencies often have a considerable amount of medical and social information on the birth mother’s family. Even so, it is important to note that one of the main reasons that adoptions are disrupted in the United States is because of a history of sexual or emotional abuse. If you are adopting internationally, you will most likely receive extensive medical history on the child, but there may not be very much information on his or her family.

Do You Want an Open or Closed Adoption?

For many Americans, international adoption is preferable because they aren’t required to have an open adoption. They do not want any contact with their children’s birth families. Domestic adoptions, on the other hand, may be at least “semi-open.” This means that you will meet the birth mother, and you may even talk to her on the phone.

To make things easier on the mother, the agency will send updates and photographs that you send. This is to reassure the birth mother that she did the right thing and that her baby is having a good life.

How Much Does It Cost?

There is no way to know whether it would be less costly to adopt domestically than internationally. In general, a domestic adoption will cost American parents between $20,000 and $35,000. International costs are a little more unpredictable. Some people paid $15,000 for international adoption, but others spent as much as $50,000. In both cases, your money will be at risk because a domestic adoption could be disrupted, and the country in which your international adoption takes place could slow down the process.

Concern About the Birth Mother

People often have a nightmare scenario in their minds about the birth mother coming to their doors to take their babies back. This is the reason that many people choose to adopt internationally, but this is an unfounded concern. In a legal adoption, the birth mother’s parental rights are terminated, so even if she found your door, she wouldn’t be able to take your baby. You can be assured that she will not know your address if your adoption is closed or semi-open. Besides that, most birth mothers are satisfied with the decision they made to give up their babies for adoption, so you really don’t need to worry about this happening to you.

Even if you are working with an agency, you will want to have the services of a New Jersey adoption lawyer. An attorney will guide you throughout the entire process and address all the legal issues involved in adopting domestically and internationally.

Contact the law firm of Cofsky & Zeidman to consult with a New Jersey adoption lawyer today. Call (856) 429-5005 to reach our main office in Haddonfield.

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