New Jersey Joins Other States In Regulating Gestational Carrier Arrangements for Family Formation

On May 30, 2018 Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey signed into law the New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act. This new law will protect all parties involved in a gestational carrier arrangement, including the gestational carrier, the intended parents, and most importantly, any child resulting from such an arrangement. These agreements will now be enforceable and all parties will know each one’s obligations. The Act mirrors the N.J. Adoption Statute in that it permits payment of expenses related to the arrangement including reasonable living expenses as allowed under the Adoption Statute. It does not provide for separate compensation.

There are a number of mandatory requirements in order to avail oneself of the protections of the Act. The major ones include the requirement that a gestational carrier must be at least 21 years old, have had at least one child, and that the parties must receive counseling as to the effect of being involved in such an arrangement. All parties must be represented by separate attorneys.

If all requirements have been fulfilled, the intended parents can apply to the court for a pre-birth order naming them as the legal parents of any child resulting from the arrangement. It is extremely important since once the order is issued the intended parents will be responsible for that child regardless of any change in their relationship and regardless of any issues which may arise involving the child. This certainly is in everyone’s best interest. The other aspect of the Act cures an issue that was the basis of the case which I argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court almost six years ago. In that case a pre-birth order under the current case law had been requested for a husband and wife where the sperm of the husband was used to create an embryo with an egg from an anonymous donor. The embryo was transferred to a gestational carrier with the understanding of all parties that the wife would go on the birth certificate as the child’s mother. A split decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court resulted in the requirement that both of the intended parents must be genetically related to the child in order to have any type of pre-birth order issued. That meant that the intended mother would be required to file for a stepparent adoption.

It was as a result of this unfair treatment of infertile women that the legislature addressed this issue. The New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act was passed twice by the legislature since then, but vetoed twice by Governor Christie. It has now passed a third time and has been signed into law by Governor Murphy. The Act will now apply to children without a requirement that both intended parents be genetically related to the child. This is a great advancement for family formation in New Jersey, and simply regulates that which has already been occurring in this state. Several of my colleagues who are members of both the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys and the New Jersey Academy of Adoption Attorneys worked with the legislature in drafting the bill to correct this issue.

Contact Our Office

To set up an appointment with an NJ adoption lawyer or a PA adoption lawyer, contact the law office of Cofsky & Zeidman today. You can call our office in Haddonfield at 856-429-5005 or in Woodbury at 856-845-2555. We can also be reached in Philadelphia at 215-563-2150.

Access to Paid and Unpaid Leave As an Adopting Parent

Unpaid and Paid Leave When Adopting

Many new parents have access to paid leave through federal or state family and medical leave benefits or benefits provided to them as part of their employment contracts or packages. More than 91 percent of all the U.S. employers that are obligated or opt-in to provide paid leave for new parents indicate that it has had a positive effect on morale and turnover as well as no negative effect on employee absenteeism. Nevertheless, many adoptive parents-to-be have concerns with how they fit in.

The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a labor law that obligates employers of a certain size to provide workers leave for family-related reasons and to guarantee that their jobs will still be available when they return. Such leave is unpaid by default. Employees can access benefits, such as accrued sick time. States are also allowed to add paid requirements via their own family and medical leave benefits, which cannot contradict but add to the federal FMLA. Those on family leave may also have access to other federal and state benefits, and many employers provide additional benefits as part of their employment packages. Note that family leave covers not only pregnancies but adoptions as well, and without caveats.

Note that state family and medical leave benefits vary from one state to the next. Pennsylvania does not have a state FMLA. New Jersey does and even permits up to 12 months of paid leave for parents who choose to adopt.
Birth

Being Up Front With Your Employer

After you have consulted with a PA adoption lawyer and decided to adopt, it is generally advised that you inform your employer. You don’t want them to feel blindsided down the line. How you approach this situation likely depends on the size of the company for which you work, and you should adhere to the advice and any legal representation that you have secured. With small businesses, it is generally best to let the owner know, and with corporations, you generally want to inform your direct boss as well as the HR department depending on the rules and regulations.

What to Do When a Company Denies Leave

It is generally advised that you discuss applying for family leave with a PA adoption lawyer in advance of informing your employer and officially requesting leave. The advice an attorney provides you can be integral to a successful request. In the event of a denial, your recourse depends on it. If an employer is within its rights to deny the leave, then you may have no recourse. Some companies provide an appeal process. If an appeal fails or is not an option, then a lawyer can assist you with escalating the complaint, such as going to the Department of Labor.

When Seeking Employment

The FMLA generally provides less protection to you as a new employee who has been employed for less than 12 months. You may still be entitled to leave but have less access to benefits. You should be up front with an employer. By law, your choosing to adopt cannot be a reason not to hire you. If you have the option to wait a year, it may be in your best interest to do so and then broach the topic of the adoption with your employer. However, if the process is already underway and you became unemployed or this is a dream position for you, then it behooves you to be honest with your employer concerning your adoption plan.

Here as Your Advocate

If you want to adopt a child or already have and are facing subsequent challenges, the law firm of Cofsky & Zeidman is here to assist you. Our focus is on adoptions in PA, and we have helped many clients navigate the process. You can contact us online or call us at your earliest convenience. You can reach our office in Philadelphia at (215) 563-2150.

Adoptees’ Rights to View Their Original NJ Birth Records

Adopted people in New Jersey might want to learn about their birth families but may be unsure of how they can access the information they need. State law allows them to access their original birth certificates.

How New Jersey Adoptees Can Learn About Their Birth Parents

New Jersey adoptees may wonder about their birth families and potential blood relatives. They may be curious about their family histories, ancestry and genetic medical records, and finding their birth family can help answer a lot of questions. A state law that went into effect in 2017 allows adoptees to request their original birth certificates.

New Jersey Laws on Adoptees’ Birth Records

In New Jersey, state laws give adoptees rights to access some types of information about their birth records and biological parents. In the past, these requests were not always possible or easy. The state government enacted laws that sealed the original birth certificates of children who were adopted on November 19, 1940, or any time thereafter. In order to access their birth records, adoptees had to apply for a court order that may or may not have been granted. This meant that many adoptees were left with unanswered questions about their origins and ancestry.

Changes to the Law

In 2014, the vital records law was amended to allow now-adult adoptees to obtain non-certified copies of their original birth certificates. There are a few things that you should know about how you can access your original birth records under New Jersey adoption law. You can contact our NJ adoption attorney for more information about the process.

Who Can Obtain an Original Birth Certificate

There are several categories of people who are entitled, under New Jersey state law, to receive a copy of the Birthoriginal birth certificate of the adoptee. These are all people who are directly linked to the adoptee. Those who can access original birth certificates include:

  • The adult adoptee himself or herself
  • The adoptee’s direct descendants
  • The sibling or spouse of the adoptee
  • The adoptive parent, legal guardian or other representative of the adoptee
  • Any New Jersey state agency or federal government department for purposes related to their official conduct

While a number of individuals have a right to access formerly sealed birth records, this right does not belong to the public in general. There is no public access provided to adoptees’ original birth certificates.

Applying for a Birth Certificate Copy

If you fit into one of the named categories listed above, you can formally request from the state a copy of the original birth certificate of an adoptee. You can complete the request form from the state and mail it to the state Office of Vital Statistics and Registry (OVSR). Birth certificates must be requested via mail and cannot be obtained in person.

In addition to the form itself, applicants must also submit proof of their identity, proof of their relationship to the adoptee, any records of a name change and payment of the required fee.

Birth Parents’ Privacy Rights

After the 2014 changes were signed into law by then-Governor Chris Christie, birth parents were given until December 31, 2016, to submit any requests to redact information from the record. If the redaction request was not filed by that date, it was not accepted by the state.

New Jersey adoption laws allow birth parents to provide contact preferences to the state registrar. The parents can say whether they prefer direct contact, contact through an intermediary or no contact at this time, although these preferences do not create a binding obligation. In order to submit a contact preference, birth parents must also submit a Family History Information form that provides additional medical history as well as social and cultural information.

Birth parents who previously requested that their information be redacted prior to the 2016 deadline but have since changed their minds can contact the state to change their preferences.

Adoption can raise a number of questions for adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents navigating the emotional and legal frameworks of New Jersey adoption law. To set up an appointment with our NJ adoption attorney, reach out to the law office of Cofsky & Zeidman. Donald J. Cofsky has years of experience representing families in adoption matters. You can call our office in Haddonfield at (856) 429-5005 or in Woodbury at (856) 845-2555 to set up a consultation.

The Advantages of Open Adoption

The popularity of open adoption is a relatively recent phenomenon. There are many reasons why this option may be the right one for your family.

Why Open Adoption Could Be the Right Choice for You

It’s estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of all adoptions in the U.S. today are open adoptions. If you’re considering an open adoption in the Garden State, consulting with an experienced NJ adoption lawyer can be a useful first step.

What Is Open Adoption?

An open adoption is an adoption in which a biological parent maintains some sort of relationship with the family who adopted his or her biological child. The nature of that contact can vary. In some instances, the adoptive family may send the biological parent an occasional photo and an update while in other situations, the biological parent may be encouraged to visit and spend time with the child.

A closed adoption, on the other hand, is one in which the adoption records are sealed, and no identifying information is passed between adoptive and biological parents. Thirty states, however, have set up mutual consent registries allowing children who were adopted through a closed adoption procedure to seek information about their biological parents once they come of age so long as the biological parents agree.

The Birthright Act

In January of 2017, the Adoptees’ Birthright Act went into effect in New Jersey. This law unsealed the birth records of 300,000 individuals who were born in New Jersey and later adopted both within and outside the Garden State. The adoptees can petition to receive uncertified copies of their birth certificates, which will give them access to their birth name and to the time, date and place of their birth. Unless their biological parents specifically petitioned to redact the information before December 31, 2016, adoptees will also have access to the names of their birth parents. Birth mothers and fathers have leeway, however, over the degree of subsequent contact they wish to have with any child who was given up for adoption.

New Jersey Adoption Laws

New Jersey Statutes Title 9, Sections 3-37 describe the legal requirements for adopting a minor child in the Garden State. Title 2A, Section 22-1 stipulates the requirements for the adoption of an adult.

child
Any individual who is 18 years of age or older can adopt a child in New Jersey. While many adoptions are independent arrangements that are brokered directly between biological parents and adoptive parents, others are mediated through agencies.

There are two types of adoption agencies in New Jersey: public and private. Both are licensed by the state and subject to state regulation and scrutiny. Private adoption agencies are frequently affiliated with social service organizations and place children who have been brought to their attention by biological parents. Public adoption agencies, on the other hand, place children who through abandonment or abuse have become wards of the court.

What Are the Benefits of Open Adoption?

The prospect of an open adoption can be frightening to adoptive parents. Will their adopted child see them as parents, they may wonder? Will the biological parents ever be able to reassert a claim to the child? Nevertheless, there are many advantages to the open adoption model.

  • Medical and genetic information: Increasingly, medical science is discovering that many chronic health conditions have genetic components. When adoption records are sealed, it can be difficult to get access to medical information that could help determine the most effective treatment strategies for a sick child.
  • Self-esteem: Without reassurance from a biological parent, an adopted child can grow up believing that he or she was placed for adoption because of some horrible flaw. Such children can grow up with a sense of abandonment that can be very destructive to their self-esteem. Learning from a biological parent about the circumstances that led up to the adoption can go a long way toward bolstering a child’s self-confidence.
  • Less uncertainty: What people don’t know is often scarier than what people do know. Where there’s an open channel of communication between adoptive parents and biological parents, adoptive parents are less likely to question a birth mother’s underlying intentions.

For more information about the adoption process in New Jersey, contact our NJ adoption lawyer at Cofsky & Zeidman today. We can be reached in Haddonfield at (856) 429-5005 or in Woodbury at (856) 845-2555.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Adoption Lawyers

How a New Jersey Adoption Attorney Can Help You

Adopting a child in New Jersey is an involved process that involves training and going through a home study. If you’ve been considering adoption for your family, chances are you have a lot of questions. If this is your first experience with adopting a child in New Jersey, consulting with an adoption lawyer is a good way to see that you get the assistance you need throughout the process.

The Adoption Process

Prospective parents have several options when it comes to adoption. Some parents choose to utilize an adoption agency while others prefer to work directly with the birth mother to facilitate the process. In the state of New Jersey, finding an adoption attorney is quite important.

If you aren’t familiar with the adoption process, our New Jersey adoption lawyer can guide you through the journey. Our lawyer will be able to assist you as you complete your adoption paperwork in order to prepare for your new family member. Your attorney will also be able to answer critical questions that may arise about each stage of adopting a child. This can offer you peace of mind.

If your family has previously been involved with an adoption, an attorney is still a great asset to have on your side. Your attorney will be able to offer you personalized assistance and support as you complete paperwork and approach your child’s adoption day.

Preparing for Adoption

One of the most important aspects of preparing for an adoption is completing your home study. This lets your adoption coordinator or social worker develop an understanding of how your family functions and what your home environment is like. This portion of the adoption process will help determine if your family will be a solid choice for adopting a child. Your attorney can offer you guidance throughout this process. Although the steps for completing a study are clear, keep in mind that sometimes it’s nice to have someone leading you along the way.

Make sure that you and any family members who live with you prepare emotionally for the adoption process. Adopting a child is a journey that can take months or even years, so read books, talk openly with one another, and join a support group if possible to get the emotional companionship you need during this time.

How Your Attorney Can Help

Your family lawyer in New Jersey wants to help you succeed. That’s why your attorney will work with you every step of the way. From the moment you decide to adopt until you’re holding your child in your arms, understand that your lawyer will be rooting for your success.

Attorneys offer a variety of legal services related to adoption. If you’re adopting a child directly from a birth mother, you may wonder about the legal process and the paperwork. It’s important that you understand both your rights and obligations as well as the biological parents’ rights and obligations. Your lawyer can help explain all of this to you as you proceed. Even if you choose to adopt using an agency, your attorney can help ensure you find an office that is legitimate and reliable. Your lawyer will also be able to review contracts and documents and explain any legal jargon you might not be familiar with so that you understand everything.

If you’ve been searching for a way to make adoption a reality, it’s time to meet with the right lawyer. Don’t wait to get the assistance you need on this journey. Adding a beloved child to your family can be an incredible experience, and our office would love to be a part of that. If you’re in Haddonfield or Woodbury, call Cofsky & Zeidman at (856) 429-5005 to speak with our New Jersey adoption lawyer. We’d love to talk with you about your options for bringing your new baby home.

New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act Signed into Law

New Jersey Joins Other States In Regulating Gestational Carrier Arrangements for Family Formation

On May 30, 2018 Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey signed into law the New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act. This new law will protect all parties involved in a gestational carrier arrangement, including the gestational carrier, the intended parents, and most importantly, any child resulting from such an arrangement. These agreements will now be enforceable and all parties will know each one’s obligations. The Act mirrors the N.J. Adoption Statute in that it permits payment of expenses related to the arrangement including reasonable living expenses as allowed under the Adoption Statute. It does not provide for separate compensation.

 

There are a number of mandatory requirements in order to avail oneself of the protections of the Act. The major ones include the requirement that a gestational carrier must be at least 21 years old, have had at least one child, and that the parties must receive counseling as to the effect of being involved in such an arrangement. All parties must be represented by separate attorneys.

 

If all requirements have been fulfilled, the intended parents can apply to the court for a pre-birth order naming them as the legal parents of any child resulting from the arrangement. It is extremely important since once the order is issued the intended parents will be responsible for that child regardless of any change in their relationship and regardless of any issues which may arise involving the child. This certainly is in everyone’s best interest. The other aspect of the Act cures an issue that was the basis of the case which I argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court almost six years ago. In that case a pre-birth order under the current case law had been requested for a husband and wife where the sperm of the husband was used to create an embryo with an egg from an anonymous donor. The embryo was transferred to a gestational carrier with the understanding of all parties that the wife would go on the birth certificate as the child’s mother. A split decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court resulted in the requirement that both of the intended parents must be genetically related to the child in order to have any type of pre-birth order issued. That meant that the intended mother would be required to file for a stepparent adoption.

 

It was as a result of this unfair treatment of infertile women that the legislature addressed this issue. The New Jersey Gestational Carrier Agreement Act was passed twice by the legislature since then, but vetoed twice by Governor Christie. It has now passed a third time and has been signed into law by Governor Murphy. The Act will now apply to children without a requirement that both intended parents be genetically related to the child. This is a great advancement for family formation in New Jersey, and simply regulates that which has already been occurring in this state. Several of my colleagues who are members of both the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys and the New Jersey Academy of Adoption Attorneys worked with the legislature in drafting the bill to correct this issue.

 

Contact Our Office

To set up an appointment with an NJ adoption lawyer or a PA adoption lawyer, contact the law office of Cofsky & Zeidman today. You can call our office in Haddonfield at 856-429-5005 or in Woodbury at 856-845-2555. We can also be reached in Philadelphia at 215-563-2150.

Potential Challenges for Same-Sex Adoption

There are nearly 600,000 same-sex couple households in the United States, and more than 100,000 of them have children. Adoptions by LGBTQ people have risen sharply in the last decade; same-sex couples in the U.S. are now raising at least 22,000 children. That trend is expected to continue, and researchers estimate that there are two million LGBTQ people who are interested in adoption, but many face challenges that make it difficult.

Same-Sex Adoption

Everyone should be treated equally under the law, but same-sex couples often face uneven challenges. Fortunately, states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania have enacted laws that explicitly allow same-sex partners to petition for second-parent adoptions. Still, these parents-to-be often experience difficulties that opposite-sex couples do not. They may even have less options available to them. Public adoption agencies generally adhere to the spirit of the law, but that isn’t necessarily the case with:

  • International adoption
  • Private agency placement
  • Independent and open adoption

A PA adoption lawyer can ease this process for anyone seeking to adopt regardless of sexual orientation. Nevertheless, representation in these scenarios may be particularly important because an attorney will understand all of your rights, recognize when they’re being infringed upon and be aware of what recourse is available to you. Often, simply knowing your rights and being able to express them is enough to cease incidental and even intentional discrimination.

The Rights of Legal Parents

When an opposite-sex couple has a child, the second parent—the man—is automatically presumed to be the child’s legal guardian. This isn’t necessarily the case with same-sex couples, and it’s often necessary for the second parent to adopt the child through a legal procedure, such as a stepparent adoption or domestic partner adoption. An adoption lawyer can assist you in this scenario but also in advance of the birth.

Even after the adoption process is complete, there are still measures to take to protect your rights as a parent. This is why having a PA adoption lawyer through all stages of the adoption process is beneficial.

Something else you may need to consider is what happens if you or your partner choose to dissolve the union. When a traditional marriage is dissolved, both parents have an obvious right to a child that they both adopted. This isn’t necessary the case in same-sex unions, and an adoption attorney can help ensure that both parents have the same rights and duties.

Parenting Agreements

If a judge needs to determine if a person is a de facto parent, the judge will usually make that determination based on:

  • The length of the relationship
  • Whether the child lived with the couple
  • Any joint-parenting steps that demonstrate intent
  • Parenting agreements and similar documents

Parenting agreements are a useful step for all couples who intend to adopt children. This is especially true for same-sex couples as well as opposite-sex couples not in a legal union, such as marriage. A parenting agreement is a contract drawn up by both partners. You don’t need a lawyer to create a legally binding parenting agreement, but a lawyer can help ensure that both parents are explicitly asserting the parental rights and duties that they want.

Navigating the Adoption Process

Many people aren’t prepared for how involved an adoption can be. It can be a time-consuming and challenging endeavor—and that’s true even for opposite-sex couples. Once you and your partner have progressed beyond the emotional journey of deciding to adopt and committing to it, it’s a good time to choose an attorney.

In the United States, an adoption home study is required before you’re even eligible to adopt, and your lawyer can assist you with this as well as other requirements and resources. From there, your lawyer can help connect you with the various adoption sources. In cases where profiles are required, the right advice can be invaluable in positioning yourselves to be attractive candidates to the birth parent or parents.

Whether you’re an individual aiming to adopt or part of an opposite-sex or same-sex couple that wants to bring a child into their lives, a PA adoption lawyer can make a big difference. Your attorney can help you navigate the system and save time and money in the process. You can reach the law office of Cofsky & Zeidman toll-free at (856) 429-5005. If you are local to our Philadelphia location, please call us at (215) 563-2150.

Problems Adoptive Parents Might Have With Birth Parents

Plenty of adoptive parents are opting for open adoptions these days, giving their children the opportunity to stay in touch with their birth parents. As a matter of fact, the percentage of adoptive parents going for open adoptions has increased from 1 percent 20 years ago to about 70 percent nowadays. If you’re thinking of taking this route, you wouldn’t be wrong in doing so as open adoptions can be very beneficial for all parties involved, and they can also help the children develop a healthy sense of identity as they grow up among adults who love them.

Possible Issues With Open Adoptions

However, open adoptions also expose the adoptive parents to possible conflict with the birth parents whether because the birth parents disappear intermittently out of the child’s life, robbing them of any sense of stability, or because the birth parents are too intrusive in the child’s life. Moreover, any significant upheaval in the adoptive parents’ or the birth parents’ lives can be cause for friction.

Disappearance of the Birth Parents

Giving a child away can be an excruciating ordeal for the birth parents, which is why some of them tend to drop off the grid for the first couple of years after the adoption. They’re simply trying to make matters easier for them as well as their children. Nevertheless, adoptive parents might not understand, causing them to blame the birth parents for this unexplained disappearance. If the adoptive parents have a hard time explaining this behavior, you can only imagine what’s going through the child’s mind.

Fortunately, this blame can be avoided with the help of a professional who’s seen multiple cases such as these and is aware of common behavior patterns that occur during them. If you live in the tri-state area, you would do well to visit a qualified New Jersey adoption attorney.

Intrusiveness of Birth Parents

It’s possible that the birth parents can become overly involved in their child’s life, threatening the relationship the adoptive parents are trying to foster. For instance, a birth parent may insist on seeing their children during every holiday, which precludes the adoptive parents from spending any quality time with their new family member.

Moreover, if the adoptive parents and the birth parents have conflicting values, this can manifest itself in rising tensions over what the child is taught at home. Additionally, a birth parent who feels entitled to have a say in his or her child’s life is liable to ignore any boundaries and barge in on the new family any time he or she feels like it.

A Change in the Adoptive Parents’ Lives

A natural part of life is change, which is never contained and always spills out into other aspects of life. A case in point is if the adoptive parents decide to get divorced, which may lead both the adoptive parents and the child to cut back temporarily on contacting the birth parents. As unfortunate as this change may be for the birth parents, they have to learn to accept it.

A Change in the Birth Parents’ Lives

Just as a change in the adoptive family’s circumstances engender a change in the relationship they have with the birth parents, changes in the birth parents’ lives can have adverse effects on the child. For example, should a birth parent develop a drug habit at some point in time, this may leave a negative impression on the child.

 

How to Address These Issues

As a result of all this, it’s imperative for the adoptive parents to come to a mutually agreeable arrangement with the birth parents early on. This arrangement should set the expectations for all involved parties so as to accommodate any possible shifts in the future. This arrangement should also specify how much time the birth parents are allowed to spend with their child, what the child should call them, and to what degree the extended birth family has the right to be involved in the child’s life.

Contact Our Office

Whether you need someone to help you come up with such an arrangement or you’re looking for a third party to help address serious conflict between you and the birth parents, you should reach out to a professional New Jersey adoption attorney. To set up an appointment with attorney Don Cofsky, call us in Haddonfield at (856) 429-5005 or in Woodbury at (856) 845-2555. We can also be reached in Philadelphia at (215) 563-2150.

How to Decide If Adoption Is Right for You

Have you recently started to consider the possibility of adopting a child? If you have, there is a variety of factors that you will want to consider before you start the process, given the fact that it is a lengthy one. If you want to be a part of the nearly 135,000 adoptions that take place in the United States every year, there are some questions that you should first ask yourself.

Public or Private Adoption?

The first thing you should consider when deciding whether or not you want to adopt a child is if you would want to go through a public or private adoption, which can be discussed in detail with a PA adoption lawyer. Adopting through a public agency means that the adoption will take place through a government entity. Government agencies have structured procedures involving the adoption of a child, which our adoption lawyer will be able to guide you through. Each county and jurisdiction has their own department that handles social services and is responsible for children in foster care.

As for private adoption, this form of adoption takes place with a private agency that is licensed and regulated by the particular state that the agency is in. These agencies are usually nonprofit organizations. There are some distinct differences between the two options, but they are designed to use similar processes. If you still have questions about which type is best for you, a New Jersey adoption lawyer may be able to help.

Can You Make the Necessary Investments?

Taking care of a child will require substantial investments that can extend from buying clothes to saving for college. It’s important to ascertain if you will be able to make the necessary investments throughout the child’s life before you go through with an adoption. These investments also extend beyond monetary ones and include the ability to provide the care, love, and understanding that the child will require throughout their life. Our NJ adoption lawyer here at Cofsky & Zeidman will be able to assist you in determining whether or not you have the means of supporting an adopted child.

Have You Been Through a Major Event Recently?

An adoption is always going to be a significant and lengthy event in your life, which is why you might want to start the adoption process during a time that has been free from life-altering events. Have you recently suffered from a major illness, lost your job, or moved to a new location? If so, ask yourself if you are physically and emotionally ready to undertake an adoption so soon after another major event. The decision you make is entirely up to you. You’ll also want to ask yourself if you have time to go through comprehensive counseling before and after the adoption as this is required by any private or public adoption agency. If you believe that now is a good time to adopt, a PA adoption attorney is an invaluable resource to have on your side.

Why Do You Want to Adopt?

Make sure to ask yourself why you want to adopt before beginning as you should be certain that this is something you’re prepared for. Whether you want to adopt because you cannot conceive a child biologically or simply believe that it would be the best option for you, it’s important that you feel strongly about adopting a child. Adoption, unfortunately, is not something that works for everyone. If you really long to be a parent and believe that you would enjoy being around a child and raising them, look into all of your options before starting the adoption process. If you’ve settled on why you want to adopt, an adoption attorney can help you take the next steps.

Once you have made the final decision that you would like to adopt a child and are capable of caring for a child, contact our NJ adoption attorney here at Cofsky & Zeidman LLC to schedule your initial consultation. Our Haddonfield, New Jersey, office can be reached by phone at (856) 429-5005. We also have additional locations in Woodbury, NJ, and Philadelphia, PA, which you can reach by phone at (856) 845-2555 and (215) 563-2150 respectively. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you along your journey toward becoming a parent.

Grandparent Adoption in New Jersey

For thousands of children in New Jersey, their grandparents are their primary caregivers and sources of parental love and attention. Many children first enter the custody of their grandparents after the children were removed from their parents’ homes by the New Jersey DCP&P due to abandonment, abuse, or neglect. In other situations, the grandparents may have taken in the children as an internal response within the family to a crisis, an addiction, or a parent’s inability to provide or care for his or her kids.

Grandparents Providing Family Foster Care

In many cases, grandparents first become responsible for their grandchildren when the kids are placed with them temporarily as a foster placement. The New Jersey DCP&P sees foster care as a situation that leads to reunification with the parents or, alternately, kinship legal guardianship or adoption by the foster parents. Family members like grandparents are strongly preferred as foster parents because they are already known and trusted by the children and have shown themselves to be committed to providing a safe, loving environment for the kids.

In order to be formally designated as foster parents, grandparents must go through a home inspection and background checks in order to be licensed as resource parents by the DCP&P. While foster parents, including family foster parents like grandparents, have the right to make decisions for the children in their care, they’re still subject to ongoing oversight and intervention by the agency.

Kinship Care, Adoption, and Other Options

Once a grandparent’s custody of the children becomes a long-term situation, it can be important for the kids to make the arrangement more formal and lasting. There are several ways to formalize a grandparent’s custody over the grandchildren.

Many grandparents in New Jersey may petition to be appointed kinship legal guardians. In this case, the birth parents of the children retain rights, including the right to visitation, and responsibilities such as paying child support. A grandparent appointed by the court as a kinship legal guardian can be eligible for state subsidies and has the right to make decisions for the child without oversight by state agencies.

Other grandparents may seek to pursue adoption. When a grandparent adopts a child, the birth parents transfer all of their parental rights and responsibilities to the grandparent. Adoption is a more final and permanent solution to an ongoing family situation in which grandparents are a child’s primary caregivers without positive involvement from the birth parents.

Grandparent Adoption and Birth Parents’ Rights

When considering a grandparent adoption, it can be important to consult with our NJ adoption attorney. Under state law, a child can only have two legal parents. While people who are not the legal parents can have rights and responsibilities to the children as foster parents or kinship legal guardians, these rights don’t eliminate or undermine those of the legal parents.

An adoption can only proceed in certain circumstances. Either:

  • The birth parents voluntarily terminate their parental rights, or
  • The birth parents’ rights are legally terminated in court.

Because family reunification and the parent-child bond are a priority, termination of a birth parent’s legal rights is a serious action not taken lightly in court. Parental rights can be terminated if a parent is deemed unfit, especially following abuse or abandonment of a child. There are several factors that can be considered significant enough to lead to termination of parental rights, including sexual abuse of the child, causing serious physical or emotional harm to the child, failing to care for the child, using excessive physical punishment against the child, or abandoning the child.

The grandparents can pursue the full adoption process after the birth parents’ parental rights have been terminated by the court or they’ve voluntarily agreed to give up their rights to the children. Once this has happened, the grandparents will assume the full rights and responsibilities over the child, and the birth parents are no longer expected to provide support or entitled to see the child without the adoptive parents’ permission.

Contact Our New Jersey Adoption Attorney

For grandparents considering adopting the grandchild or grandchildren in their custody, there are many factors to consider when pursuing this permanent option. Our New Jersey adoption attorney can consult and work with grandparents caring for their grandchildren to provide detailed information and representation when moving forward with the adoption process. Grandparents can contact our NJ adoption lawyer, Donald C. Cofsky, in Haddonfield, New Jersey, at 856-429-5005 for advice and guidance on the next steps toward adoption.

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