glossary of Terms - Adoption Law
Finalization
The legal process by which the adoption becomes permanent and binding.
Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption
A multinational agreement designed to promote the uniformity and efficiency of international adoptions.
Home study
A study of the prospective adoptive family and their home, life experiences, health, lifestyle, extended family, attitudes, support system, values, beliefs, and other factors relating to the prospective adoption. This information is summarized in an adoption study or home study report.
Independent adoption
An adoption is arranged privately between the birth family and the adoptive family, without an adoption agency.
Inter-country or international adoption
The adoption of a child from a country outside of the United States.
Non-identifying information
Information that allows the birth and adoptive families to learn pertinent facts about each other without revealing who they are or how they can be contacted.
Open adoption or cooperative adoption
An adoption in which the birth parents and adoptive parents have contact with each other before and/or after the placement of the adopted child.
Post-placement services
services that are provided after the adoption is finalized, including counseling, social services, and adoptive family events, and outings.
Special needs child
A child with medical, mental, emotional, behavioral, or educational needs that could require extra ongoing attention.
Termination of parental rights (TPR)
The process by which a parent's rights to his or her child are legally and permanently terminated, after which the child becomes eligible for adoption.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau (USCIS)
An agency of the federal government that approves an adopted child's immigration into the United States and grants U.S. citizenship to children adopted from other countries.
Waiting Child
A child currently available for adoption. Waiting children may be in the U.S. foster care system, might be older, or could be special needs children.
practice areas
adoption can be a complex process, after all it is the process by which a legal and permanent parent-child relationship is created through a court proceeding. Our adoption attorneys can assist in a consultative role by explaining the overall process, drafting and filing paperwork, and representing you in court to finalize the adoption.
estates & trusts law is a natural fit for our family law and adoption practice. Significant life transitions such as the birth or adoption of a child, marriage or divorce, or the passing of a loved one, remind us that estate plan documents such as a will, may need to be updated, or new documents drafted.
family law when you are experiencing life changes such as marriage, divorce, adoption, the birth of a child, parenting time, or financial challenges due to a job change. We are here to help you move through change, to move forward with your life. We may not be able to address every aspect related to change, such as the emotional impact. We can help with legal aspects when change is necessary or inevitable.