[BoxofRain]

I apologize as I know this has been asked about before.

I do know that we need to provide our bank statements and tax statements. The SW already told me that the main thing they are looking for in our state (PA) was enough income and $24,000 was the minimum was exceeded. I can see no credit check is required, our credit is actually good.

However, we do have a number of monthly expenses because we have a mortgage, student loans, and some credit cards (leftover from Infertility/ college issues- we have 4 degrees between us!) But, we do think we could manage to pay for a child easily and we do think this is obvious when you break things down.

However, we are afraid to become too hopeful about the process and then just be disappointed once again on our road to becoming parents because we weren't fortunate enough to have a home/ schooling handed to us!

Any guidance appreciated!

[eagleswings216]

We had to fill out a monthly balance sheet showing our monthly income versus our monthly expenses. Basically they wanted to see that we were bringing in more than we were spending.

We also had to fill out a yearly expense sheet detailing our assets and debts (a bit messy for us since we own rental property).

They attempted to verify most of this with our tax returns and bank statements (but eventually gave up getting it exact since our rental properties skewed our income a bit).

I don't think your debts will be a major problem as long as you meet the minimum income required and can show that you bring in more money than you spend a month.

Hope that helps. :-)

[BoxofRain]

Originally Posted by eagleswings216

We had to fill out a monthly balance sheet showing our monthly income versus our monthly expenses. Basically they wanted to see that we were bringing in more than we were spending.

We also had to fill out a yearly expense sheet detailing our assets and debts (a bit messy for us since we own rental property).

They attempted to verify most of this with our tax returns and bank statements (but eventually gave up getting it exact since our rental properties skewed our income a bit).

I don't think your debts will be a major problem as long as you meet the minimum income required and can show that you bring in more money than you spend a month.

Hope that helps. :-)

It does help, thank you so much!

[jennyjk]

I've been terrified about this aspect of the homestudy since we found out about it. My husband has student loans, a small personal loan, paying on our car and we have a mortgage. We live well within our means and don't have any outstanding accounts. Well, one from a supposed cell phone my husband had supposedly gotten in a town he had never been to until two years AFTER he supposedly got this phone for which they won't or can't provide a phone number, account number or any documentation for but still expect us to pay them $450 for or they won't take it off his credit rating. When we explain it, most places disreguard that blemish though.

We aren't independantly wealthy, but we live comfortably and all of our bills get paid. We are wanting to adopt an older child (10-ish) through the state plus my husband is military and we were told it would be relatively inexpensive. Our main concern was how harshly they deal with regular working class people? They said they want to know how much we have in savings, etc, etc but since that would likely be used to pay for the fees and classes... I'm worried about us not having enough stashed away to please the SW. How much do you need to have in your savings account before they okay you to adopt?

[eagleswings216]

Our agency did not expect us to be wealthy by any means. We had to fill out a monthly budget sheet, basically showing that we were bringing in more money than we were spending. We also had to provide bank statements to verify the savings we had, as well as our most recent tax return. They wanted to see that we had money in savings to cover the adoption, or if not, what plan we had to pay for it (loans, grants, whatever). I think especially if you are looking to adopt an older child, which is often MUCH cheaper than a newborn adoption, they will just be looking to see that you are not drowning in debt and that you live within your means.

[mi75]

we are nervous about this too...we have over 60k in credit card debt from infertility treatments, infertility drugs, grad school (we each have master's degrees), and everyday living. we are a little nervous about this but can easily justify our debt plus we are bringing home enough to pay our debts easily.

our only fear is that our agency could say that we are paying too much out each month (doing dave ramsey and snowballing like crazy) and not saving enough...

i really think that it's more about the fact that you can afford to live, that you live within your means, that you are paying off your debt and being responsible, and that adopting won't send you to bankruptcy court.

good luck to all!

[ruth74]

I didn't need to give the agency a budget, just tax return and my most recent pay stub. I am single and have a mortgage and 3 1/2 degrees worth of student loans, and it wasn't a problem for me. I know every agency is different, but really what they're looking for is that you can afford to support a child.

[zempagirl]

We had suplly monthly expenses, credit card balances, car loan balance, savings acct balance, and 401k balances. SO I think that those all are normal things that they ask on a homestudy. Good luck!