Your Adoption Attorney in Morgan County
Depending upon your position in the triad of adoption, birth parent considering adoption, birth parent contesting adoption, or prospective adoptive parent, and the legal complexity of your adoption, the emotions coupled with an adoption can range from unbridled joy and excitement to anxiety and concern, and everywhere in between. At the Law Office of Julie Fred, we handle adoptions from all sides of the case. We represent prospective adoptive parents through the adoption process, birth parents wanting to be apprised of their rights prior to choosing an adoption plan for their child, and birth parents contesting adoptions. We can assist prospective adoptive parents and expectant/birth parents in crafting post-adoption agreements.
PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PARENTS
If you are a prospective adoptive parent, it is important to realize that the area of adoption law is complex with many rules, regulations, and procedural steps which must be followed precisely in order for an adoption to be smoothly and properly finalized. This tends to be both an exciting and anxiety-ridden time for prospective adoptive parents. We treat your case as if it was our own, remaining in contact with you and the Court to ensure that all the appropriate steps are being taken at the right times. At the Law Office of Julie Fred, we can assist prospective adoptive parents in navigating this complicated area of family law, whether the child you are adopting is a newborn, older child, step-child, family member adoption, or a child being adopted out of foster care.
BIRTH/EXPECTANT PARENTS
If you are a birth parent considering an adoption plan for your child, we can advise you as to your rights before, during, and after the time an adoption is finalized. We understand that this can be a very emotional period and we will be your advocates, advisors, and supporters, no matter what your ultimate decision is with respect to who will parent your child. It is our job to assist you in understanding the law and your rights with respect to your choice of an adoption plan. If you decide that an adoption plan is the right choice for you and your child, we can advise you as to different methods of dealing with the various levels of openness and post-adoption agreements. If you decide that it is not, then we can assist you in communicating with any prospective adoptive parents with whom you may have developed a relationship or agencies with whom you have had discussions.
If you are a birth parent contesting the adoption of your child, we can assist you in crafting a comprehensive plan to contest the adoption, as well as advising you as to the most advantageous steps to take moving forward.
POST-ADOPTION CONTACT AGREEMENTS
If the birth parents and prospective adoptive parents agree that a post-adoption contact agreement is in the best interest of the child, we can discuss the upsides, downsides, and legalities of entering into one and work with you to craft an agreement that best suits your needs and the best interests of the child involved. It is important to note that post-adoption agreements are difficult to enforce if one party chooses to ignore the provisions within one and often contain a set of ideals, rather than enforceable rules, governing post-adoptive contact between birth parents and the child.
