[meganicolson]

I'm halfway posting this to see if my fancy data in my signature line works (thanks to the tutorial from a few of you). I'm also curious to know if some of you who know the Colombian legal system might understand this better than I do. You'd think that after completing two Colombian adoptions I'd have this figured out, but I'm still confused.

I've been watching Kate and Ruth Ann's blogs for updates and remembering all of our wonderful, special moments in Colombia. It is so nice to be able to live vicariously through others as they travel. I was thinking about Kate's sentencia as she has written that the judge is over his "10 days to sign" and another family there with her spent 11.5 weeks in Colombia due to (I think) the same judge. (Maybe not the same judge...can't remember correctly.)

Could someone post again the legal steps of the procedure. They are fuzzy in my memory. Also, I heard that some judges require the signature of the Defender of Minors while other judges do not at the end of the case. Does it/should it vary by court room? If the judge has the freedom to require or not require the signature of the defender of minors it seems that the authority is really in the judge's hands, not in a formal process. Also, what is a family to do if they find themselves in the situation where the judge has gone over his "allotted" time to sign. I'd personally be afraid to say anything for fear that he'd deny the adoption altogether. I mean, he is a judge and I'm just a foreigner who is adopting one (or two or eventually a total of 5) of his country's children!

Also, could someone explain the difference in length of court cases in different areas of the country? It seems odd to hear some agencies say that families should expect a 6-8 week stay while others consistently say 4-6 weeks for the same region of the country.

Maybe after our third adoption from Colombia I'll get this figured out. Thanks for all of your help and expertise...