Does Your Firm Handle Adoption Cases In Pennsylvania?

The most common cases are step parent adoptions. In Pennsylvania, a parent just has to go six months or more without acting like a parent before a petition can be filed to terminate that parent’s parental rights. We send a consent to the uninvolved biological parent and ask them to agree to have their rights terminated. If their rights are terminated, there’s no longer any obligation to pay child support, which is sometimes a motivating factor. If they don’t agree, we file a petition for involuntary termination of their parental rights. Those papers are served and then you go to a hearing, where you present your case, and a judge determines whether or not a parent’s rights should be terminated for the purpose of allowing another person to step in and become the legal parent of the child.

In order for adoption to take place, there are all kinds of background checks. You have to get FBI clearance and fingerprinted. You have to get child abuse history clearances. We have handled cases of newborn children where someone decides they want to place their child for adoption and they already know who they want to place the child with. As we get closer to the delivery of that child, there is paperwork that we do, including background checks. There are home studies that are required, where someone has to determine that the home is an appropriate home for the child

In Pennsylvania, step-parent adoption has gotten a lot more difficult. There are now situations where, if it’s an involuntary termination, an attorney has to be appointed for the best interest of the child. In some cases, there’s a second attorney appointed to be an advocate for that child. It requires more than one court appearance. If consent is given, there has to be a hearing to confirm that consent. If it’s an involuntary termination, you may have to go multiple times to court to before you can even have your hearing to terminate the parental rights.

For more information on Handling Adoption Cases In Pennsylvania, a phone consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling or texting (215) 750-9202 today.