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Hi Kristin,
It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it? I'm sorry your family is giving you such a hard time.
You cannot be forced to give any kind of testimony or evidence about anything without a summons/subpoena from the court itself. Even then, you cannot be compelled to testify to anything that could be used or that you think could be used against you. If you are summoned as either a witness or a defendant, you have the right to an attorney and to have one appointed if you meet the needs test. Given the animosity the parents have shown, if summoned by the court to testify, I would definitely have an attorney representing me if I were you.
If the parents' attorney(s) are thinking of requesting a deposition from you, it most likely has nothing to actually do with the case--if they needed your testimony for the case, they would ask the court to subpoena you to testify in court, not separately, and they would have to justify that by saying you had information relevant to the parents' defense. I doubt they really believe you have anything positive to contribute to the parents' defense. More likely, a deposition would be separate from the case and have some other purpose. Bottom line, if they have no court order, and they probably won't, you can refuse.
If it were me, I would refuse because (a) no good come of it and (b) harm could come of it. I think it is more than likely that the parents are trying to drum up some kind of allegation against you to get the girls removed. It's dumb, because it would get the girls no closer to them--TPR is not a contest between parents and adoptive placements. Removal from you doesn't mean RU for them--it just means the girls go to strangers and will get put on track for a fully closed adoption eventually. But it's just the kind of vindictive nonlogic that sometimes makes sense to parents in this situation. Our niece/fd/soon-to-be-daughter's parents didn't go quite that far, but at one point did want us to "step down." They did not get that if we did that, she would be lost to all of us forever....
Anyway, a clever attorney could spin just about anything you have to say against you, so I see no reason to give them the chance.
They may word a request for deposition and have it served in a way that sounds as if you have to do it, but again, if the papers are not coming from the court itself and saying that you are summoned by the judge/court, you don't have to do it.
If it does happen, I would let the DSS attorney know about it. Again, good luck with all this.
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