Adopting an Adult

How Do Adult Adoptions Work?

There are many different types of adoptions. One of the lesser-known options is adult adoption. There are certain criteria that must be met in order to adopt an adult into your family.

What Is Adult Adoption?

Adult adoption is a legal procedure that allows a couple or individual to bring a person over the age of 18 into their family. Although not all states recognize this type of unconventional adoption, New Jersey does. It allows people to enrich the lives of adults who need the permanent connection of a loving, nurturing family.

Why Do Families Choose to Adopt an Adult?

Adult adoption is still a new concept to many people, but there are many reasons why more families are going this route. Just like adopting a child, adult adoption helps to secure a person’s family situation. If you are interested in adopting an adult, a New Jersey adoption attorney can help you with the process.

One of the most common reasons for adult adoption is that a person wishes to leave an adult an inheritance, and one way to do that is to establish a legal relationship. Adoption solidifies that familial relationship so that the adult can receive the inheritance that the person wishes to leave them.

A stepparent may want to adopt their adult stepchild to create a closer, loving family bond. This form of adoption can occur on the same day that the petition is filed with the court. Because the person is already an adult, there is no worry about having to get their other biological parent’s consent.

Adult adoption can occur when a person who was adopted or went through the foster care system has reconnected with their birth family.

Adult children who lived with a foster family but were never adopted as a minor can be adopted by their foster family.

Some adult adoptions involve adults with disabilities so that they can receive care for their lifetime. The person who adopts them oversees their care and makes all decisions affecting their welfare.

What Are the Laws on Adult Adoption?

In order to adopt an adult, there must be at least a 10-year age difference between you and the person you wish to adopt. If you are married, your spouse may have to give consent to the adoption. However, in some cases, the court may allow an adult adoption without your spouse’s consent if they are unavailable or unreasonable.

One of the strictest laws regarding adult adoption is that there must not be a sexual relationship between the adopter and the adoptee. At any point, if the two people engaged in a sexual relationship, the adoption cannot take place. Adult adoption also cannot occur for criminal reasons. If the court suspects that fraud is involved in the adoption, it will prohibit it from happening.

Although there’s no reason to get consent from the person’s biological parents for adult adoption, you should give them notice of the adoption.

What Is the Adult Adoption Procedure?

If you have decided that you wish to adopt an adult, you must visit your local court to obtain the right documents. An experienced New Jersey adoption attorney can provide all the information needed to fill out these forms. If you are adopting an adult with limited mental or physical capacity, you must fill out and file additional documentation.

Completing and signing the paperwork should be done in the presence of a notary who should then sign and emboss it. Pay careful attention to all instructions, and submit your paperwork accordingly. You will have to wait to be notified of a court date at your local family court where a judge will hear your adult adoption case.

If you need help with an adult adoption, contact contact a New Jersey adoption attorney at Cofsky & Zeidman LLC in Haddonfield at (856) 429-5005 at your earliest convenience.

What Should You Include in a Surrogacy Contract?

How to Write a Good Surrogacy Contract

In the past 20 years, the number of parents who use surrogates to expand their family has drastically increased. Though surrogacy is certainly becoming more popular, it’s still not a hassle-free process. If you want to avoid any problems later on, it is a good idea to include these items in your surrogacy contract.

A Clear Definition of What Type of Surrogacy You Are Using

Start your contract by making sure you know what type of surrogacy your family plans on using. Legally speaking, there is a difference between traditional surrogacy, where a woman donates an egg and carries the child to term, and gestational carrying, which involves a woman carrying to term a fetus that does not have her genetic material. Keep in mind that New Jersey surrogacy law does not acknowledge pre-birth surrogacy contracts in cases of traditional surrogacy. You can write a document to clarify things and express every party’s intentions, but it won’t be valid in court.

The Carrier’s Consent to Carry a Child and Surrender It After Birth

The surrogate contract is a way for your chosen gestational carrier to formally acknowledge the situation. They will need to sign clauses that state that they agree to attempt to carry and give birth to the child. To be a valid surrogacy contract, the carrier also needs to acknowledge that they will surrender custody of the child after birth. This is one of the most important provisions for your New Jersey adoption attorney to include in the whole document.

The Intended Parents’ Accepting of Responsibility for the Child

Another essential provision in any surrogate agreement is both intended parents stating that they will accept legal custody of the child after birth. Even intended parents who contributed genetic material to the child will need to be listed in this part of the document. Furthermore, the contract needs to say that you accept sole responsibility for the child. This allows your names to be put on the child’s birth certificate, and it absolves the gestational carrier of any duty to the child.

Descriptions of How Both Parties Will Handle Medical Care

The contract should acknowledge that the gestational carrier has the right to make their own medical decisions during the pregnancy. It’s a good idea for the contract to include a requirement for the surrogate to notify intended parents of her plans in writing. The contract should also discuss how the parents plan on paying the surrogate for her medical care. Things like insurance policies, doctor’s bills, or cash compensation should be discussed.

Whether the Intended Parents Will Pay for Living Expenses

Technically speaking, the only compensation that the intended parents have to make is for the surrogate’s lawyer and medical care. However, they are also allowed to pay for the surrogate’s living expenses during the surrogacy process. In most cases, gestational carriers will only agree to the process if they do get appropriate compensation. Make sure that your contract clearly lays out what expenses you will pay for and how often you will pay them. Some families provide a monthly allowance while others may want to reimburse the surrogate after the pregnancy.

The Timeline for the Surrogacy Process

In any surrogacy contract, more clarity is always a good thing. You should spell out all expectations and consider all potential problems. This can avoid conflicts or confusion later on. Start by discussing where and how the implantation process will occur. Clearly state how many times you will attempt the implantation process and what you will do if the process fails. You can also use the contract to describe whether or not you want to try again if the pregnancy results in a miscarriage or stillbirth. The contract can also help you discuss how long the surrogate has access after birth and whether she can contact the child later on.

A well-drafted surrogacy contract protects both the surrogate and the intended parents. At Cofsky & Zeidman, our New Jersey adoption attorney can help you write and file all necessary surrogate paperwork. To schedule a consultation at one of our Pennsylvania or New Jersey offices, call 856-429-5005. You can also talk to our team by filling out our contact form.

Cooperative Adoption in New Jersey

How a Cooperative Adoption Works in New Jersey

Flexible arrangements are often necessary in the wake of an adoption because the birth family does not completely want to cut off contact with the child. Through a cooperative adoption, there is some leeway to adopt a child and still maintain some sort of relationship with the birth parents. While New Jersey is not one of the 23 states that have statutes allowing written and enforceable contact agreements between parents, cooperative adoption is still an option.

Challenges of Cooperative Adoptions

There are some challenges presented by cooperative adoptions. The new adoptive parents will often want a fresh start with their child and may not wish to have a great deal of contact with the birth parents. At the same time, they won’t necessarily want their adoptive child to know yet that they are adopted. Parents may wish to hold on to the information surrounding the adoption until the child is older. Furthermore, they might feel as if continuing to have the birth family in the child’s life would be ceding some element of control of the parenting.

However, the birth family may not want to completely give up the child to someone else. In some cases, maintaining contact with the child can be a condition for putting the child up for adoption or allowing a family to assume responsibility for their child.

No Enforceable Agreements in New Jersey

Many cases allow for enforceable agreements that govern the relationship between the adoptive family and the birth family. These involve commitments that must be kept. However, New Jersey is not a state that has statutes that address enforceable cooperative adoption agreements. Therefore, any type of agreement that you reach with the birth family would essentially be a handshake-type agreement that you couldn’t get in trouble for violating.

Benefits of Cooperative Adoption

However, just because the law does not specifically provide for a cooperative adoption does not mean that you will completely want to rule it out for your adoption. It can help ease the transition for the child if he or she is older at the time of adoption and knows the birth family. The stability provided by some sort of a cooperative adoption can help facilitate the process and make it easier for the child. In addition, allowing contact with the birth mother may reduce some of the feelings of abandonment that an older adopted child might feel. These are all factors that you need to consider when deciding what role to give the birth family.

With that in mind, you should consider all the potential pros and cons when deciding whether to allow the child to have any contact with the birth family. If you do allow contact, you should think about how much there should be. There are reasons why legal counsel may be in favor of or against these types of adoptions.

Making a Contract

Even though New Jersey law does not deal with cooperative adoption agreements, there is nothing to prevent two private parties from agreeing to some sort of arrangement so long as it meets contract law requirements. If you enter into this type of arrangement as adoptive parents, you will have the ability to amend the agreement as you see fit if you decide that it is not working out as you intend. This agreement can be written or unwritten because the law would treat them both the same. New Jersey adoption attorneys can advise you on how to implement cooperative adoption in the state.

If the birth parents want to maintain contact with the adoptive child, you will need to figure out the parameters of that contact. As the legal parents of the child, you have the ability to make whatever determination is in the best interests of your family. If you do not feel that it is best for the child, you do not have to permit contact between him or her and the birth parents.

Legal Assistance

Turn to Cofsky & Zeidman when you need New Jersey adoption attorneys who can help you with all of your adoption-related legal needs. Call us today in Haddonfield at (856) 429-5005 to set up your initial consultation. You can reach our office in Woodbury at (856) 845-2555.

Contact Us

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Offices