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Relevant Adoption Laws, Policies, and Legal Considerations
This section includes summaries of the legal issues involved in planning for, conducting, and finalizing any type of adoption, including consent to adoption and postadoption contact agreements between birth and adoptive families. It also includes and summaries of legal and court issues involved in adoption.
- Preadoption laws: All types of adoption
- Preadoption laws: Adoption from foster care
- Postadoption legal issues
Adoption and Child Welfare Lawsite
Provides child welfare and adoption law information for prospective adoptive parents, biological parents, adoption and child welfare lawyers, juvenile and family court judges, and child advocates.
Online Resources for State Child Welfare Law and Policy | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 354KB) |
Year Published: | 2011 - 27 pages |
Provides web addresses for State statutes accessible online and lists the parts of the code for each State and territory that contains the laws addressing child protection, adoption, and child welfare. It also provides web addresses for States' regulation and policy sites, State court rules, and other judicial resources. Resources for all States and U.S. territories are included. |
Preadoption laws: All types of adoption
Collection of Family Information About Adopted Persons and Their Birth Families | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 617KB) |
Year Published: | 2012 - 48 pages |
Summarizes State laws regarding the types of information that are required or permitted to be collected on adopted persons and their birth families. Information generally relates to medical and genetic history, family and social background, and mental health history. For the adopted child or youth, it may also include placement history and any history of abuse or neglect. This factsheet also includes information about the timing of such a report and exceptions for relative adoptions. |
Consent to Adoption | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 590KB) |
Year Published: | 2010 - 95 pages |
Reviews State laws that specify the persons who must consent to a child's adoption, timeframes for consent, and guidelines for revocation of consent. Summaries of laws for all States and US territories are included. |
Criminal Background Checks for Prospective Foster and Adoptive Parents | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 589KB) |
Year Published: | 2011 - 65 pages |
Discusses the requirements set by States for conducting checks of State and Federal criminal records of prospective foster and adoptive parents, as well as any adults residing in the prospective parents? households. Summaries of laws for all States and U.S. territories are included. |
Disclosure of Confidential Child Abuse and Neglect Records : Summary of State Laws | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 606KB) |
Year Published: | 2010 - 79 pages |
Summaries of statutes detailing the officials who may have access to confidential records and the circumstances under which information may be disclosed. Summaries of laws for all States and U.S. territories are included. |
Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 445KB) |
Year Published: | 2010 - 62 pages |
Reviews State laws that detail the specific circumstances that must be present when a court terminates the legal parent-child relationship. Summaries of laws for all States and US territories are included. |
Home Study Requirements for Prospective Parents in Domestic Adoption | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway. |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 1,155KB) |
Year Published: | 2012 - 138 pages |
Summarizes State laws and policies for approving prospective adoptive homes. This document describes who must be included in the home study, qualifications for adoptive parents, elements of the home study, exceptions for relatives, requirements for placements across State lines, and more. |
Regulation of Private Domestic Adoption Expenses | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 405KB) |
Year Published: | 2010 - 62 pages |
Nearly all States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories have enacted statutes that provide some regulation of the fees and expenses that adoptive parents are expected to pay when arranging an adoptive placement. Some of the fees and expenses that are typically addressed in the statutes are placement costs, such as agency fees; legal and attorney expenses for adoptive and birth parents; and some of the expenses of the birth mother during pregnancy. This briefing provides general information on birth parent expenses, agency fees and costs, use of an intermediary, and reporting adoption-related expenses to the court. |
The Rights of Unmarried Fathers | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 626KB) |
Year Published: | 2010 - 104 pages |
Reviews the State laws related to unmarried fathers and explains the circumstances in which a man may be presumed to be the father of a child, paternity registries, alternate means for establishing paternity, revocations of claims, and access to information. Summaries of laws for all States and U.S. territories are accessible through the State Statute Search. |
Use of Advertising and Facilitators in Adoptive Placements: Summary of State Laws | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 284KB) |
Year Published: | 2009 - 29 pages |
Some people choose to adopt, and some birth parents choose to place their children for adoption, without the involvement of an agency. These placements are known as private placements or independent adoptions. Private placement is often preferred by people who want to adopt newborn infants domestically and utilize the services of an attorney or adoption services provider or manage the process more on their own. The challenge for prospective adoptive parents in a private placement is locating a child who is appropriate for their family or finding birth parents seeking to place their child for adoption. Some parents choose to ... |
Who May Adopt, Be Adopted, or Place a Child for Adoption? | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 543KB) |
Year Published: | 2012 - 37 pages |
Summarizes State laws regarding eligibility for becoming an adoptive parent (in terms of marital status, age, residency, and more), eligibility for being adopted as a child or adult, and authority to place a child for adoption. The summary is followed by an alphabetical listing of States' relevant statutes. |
Preadoption laws: Adoption from foster care
Concurrent Planning for Permanency for Children: Summary of State Laws | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 298KB) |
Year Published: | 2009 - 16 pages |
Reviews State laws that permit an agency to plan for another permanent placement for a child at the same time efforts are made to reunify the child with his or her family of origin. Full-text excerpts of laws for all States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories are included. |
Court Hearings for the Permanent Placement of Children | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 772KB) |
Year Published: | 2012 - 75 pages |
Summarizes State laws on the court hearings that must be held to review the status of children placed in out-of-home care. At these hearings, the court reviews the efforts made to address the family issues that necessitated the out-of-home placement as well as efforts to achieve permanency for the child. This document also describes lists the persons who may attend the hearings and permanency options. |
Determining the Best Interests of the Child: Summary of State Laws | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 282KB) |
Year Published: | 2010 - 30 pages |
Reviews factors concerning the child and the child's family that must be considered by the court when determining the best placement for a child. |
Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 445KB) |
Year Published: | 2010 - 62 pages |
Reviews State laws that detail the specific circumstances that must be present when a court terminates the legal parent-child relationship. Summaries of laws for all States and US territories are included. |
A Guide to the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 as Amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 (MEPA)
National Resource Center on Legal and Court Issues (1998)
Discusses provisions, common questions, and checklists for implementation of MEPA.
Reasonable Efforts to Preserve or Reunify Families and Achieve Permanency for Children: Summary of State Laws | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 391KB) |
Year Published: | 2009 - 46 pages |
Reasonable efforts refer to efforts made by State social services agencies to provide the assistance and services needed to preserve and reunify families. Laws in all States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico require the provision of services that will assist families in remedying the conditions that brought the child and family into the child welfare system. The statutes in most States, however, use a broad definition of what constitutes reasonable efforts. Some commonly used terms associated with reasonable efforts include "family reunification," "family preservation," "family support," and "preventive services." Summaries of laws for all States and U.S. ... |
Standby Guardianship | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 354KB) |
Year Published: | 2011 - 43 pages |
Examines State standby guardianship laws in which a parent may transfer guardianship of his or her child to a specific person under certain conditions. Many States developed these laws specifically to address the needs of parents living with HIV/AIDS, other disabling conditions, or terminal illnesses who want to plan a legally secure future for their children. A standby guardianship differs from traditional guardianships in that the parent retains much of his or her authority over the child. This publication covers the establishment of standby guardianship, the noncustodial parents, parental authority, and withdrawal of guardianship. |
Termination of Parental Rights
National Center for State Courts
Discusses issues surrounding termination of parental rights (TPR), differences in State laws, and links to how TPR cases are expedited in appellate courts.
Postadoption legal issues
Intestate Inheritance Rights for Adopted Children: Summary of State Laws | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 310KB) |
Year Published: | 2009 - 40 pages |
Leaving a will is the best way to ensure heirs or descendants may inherit from your estate. Issues of property distribution may arise when a birth parent or adoptive parent dies without making a valid will or without naming an heir to particular property (referred to as "intestacy"). In these cases, State law determines who may inherit from whom. Laws in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands specify an adopted child?s rights of inheritance from and through the adoptive and birth parents. Current through March 2006, ... |
Postadoption Contact Agreements Between Birth and Adoptive Families | |
Series Title: | State Statutes |
Author(s): | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
Availability: | View Download (PDF - 352KB) |
Year Published: | 2011 - 48 pages |
Presents State statutes on postadoption contact agreements, which are arrangements that allow contact between a child's adoptive family and members of the child's birth family or other persons with whom the child has an established relationship. Topics covered include States that do and do not have enforceable contract agreements, parties to agreements, the court?s role, and mediation. The laws presented are current through May 2011. |