Divorce Lawyer
There are many important aspects of adoption that must be considered before the decision to adopt a child can be made. These can range from the cost of the adoption, to if an adoption lawyer is actually necessary, and what type of adoption is right for the adopting family. What all of these topics fail to cover is the possibility that adoption could be contested. It is incredibly important to understand what this means and the avenues available to both the biological parents and potential adoptive parents in this situation. Creating a family can be a difficult process, but it doesn’t have to be. When all parties involved are aware of their rights regarding adoption, this process can be made much smoother.
To begin it is important to understand exactly what a contested adoption is. A contested adoption can happen when “one biological parent wants to place the child for adoption” and the other disagrees (Justia). In order for an adoption to be completed both biological parents have to agree to place the child up for adoption. The reason for this is because when a child is adopted both biological parents will have their parental rights terminated and the adopting family will have parental rights instead. This is not a process that can be done halfway, which is why both biological parents must agree. There are multiple situations in which an adoption can become contested. Most often the biological father “may not find out about the child” until the adoption process has been nearly completed and does not wish for their child to be put up for adoption (Justia). Another instance would be in the case of divorce where one biological parent wishes to keep the child and the other wishes to give them up. For this reason, the majority of contested adoptions are going to occur in the adoption of infant children, rather than older children.
Now that we have a better understanding of what a contested adoption is and which specific situations can cause it to come about, we can discuss how contested adoptions are handled in court. Now it is important to note that a contested adoption does not mean that the adoption process will come to an end. It does mean, however, that the adoption process will have to come to a halt before it can continue. For that to happen all parties, the biological parents and potential adoptive parents, need to come to a hearing before a judge so that a solution can be found. Both sides will be able to, “probably through their attorneys”, present their cases in an effort to win their case. Coming back to the most common situation where the biological father was not aware of the child in question, he will be able to present his case and explain how he would work to provide for the child if he were the sole person responsible for them. This, of course, is assuming that the biological mother still wishes to have her parental
rights terminated. If this is the case the judge may decide in favor of the biological father he would “be given custody of the child” and the adoption process would end (Justia). If the judge decides in favor of the potential adoptive parent, they will not be granted custody immediately, the adoption will simply continue.
While no one wishes to be put through the stress of a complicated and contested adoption process, it is better to be more informed about the possibilities of it happening. These cases will almost certainly end up in court and being informed will protect against both the potential adoptive and biological parents having a much longer and drawn-out adoption process.
To learn more about contested adoption process, contact a divorce lawyer at Brandy Austin Law Firm.