[zfamily]

So last night my husband and I were asked by my first cousin to adopt his 7-month old baby boy. Both the birth mother and he have mutually agreed. We live in Florida, they live in Maryland.

What's next?
What do we have to do legally?

The only thing we are disagreeing with the birth parents on is that we would like to change his name. They would like to keep it the same. Any experience with this?

We would also like to wait until mid-October to prepare, do you think this is a good idea?

Any ideas are appreciated!!

[RobinKay]

Originally Posted by zfamily

So last night my husband and I were asked by my first cousin to adopt his 7-month old baby boy. Both the birth mother and he have mutually agreed. We live in Florida, they live in Maryland.

What's next?
What do we have to do legally?

The only thing we are disagreeing with the birth parents on is that we would like to change his name. They would like to keep it the same. Any experience with this?

We would also like to wait until mid-October to prepare, do you think this is a good idea?

Any ideas are appreciated!!

Get an adoption attorney. They need one in Maryland also. I think you'll still have to do an Interstate Compact for Placement of Children--check with the attorneys.

Perhaps you can take the baby for a "visit" while all this is going on because it's a private adoption.

Good luck and congratulations!

[feelingreyt]

The first thing you need to do is contact a lawyer that specializes in adoption.
As far as waiting for a few weeks....I think that depends on his situation. Are the parents wanting to hand him over now? Is he safe and well taken care of? There must be a valid reason they want to place him for adoption so I would make sure that they are ok with waiting. I, personally, would not be able to wait. I'd pick him up as soon as it was legally possible. But thats just me.
Also, make sure you HAVE to have a homestudy. Some States will waive that when it is a relative adoption. Ours did and our adoption was very inexpensive.
OH, if you do want to go ahead and bring him home, I believe you just need Power Of Attorney over him(that way you can see medical care if needed). You can probably get that done at the Lawyer's office or their local Department of Children's Services. We had POW of our now ason before we adopted him. We actually got that through the Dept. of Human Services.
Hope this helped!
Good luck!

[zfamily]

We had a free consult with a lawyer today who said that we could go ahead and bring him home, have parents sign the termination of rights, and then proceed with adoption. She said no home study needed, but then I called a Florida Adoption specialist and they said since first cousin is 4th degree we would need a home study. I'm not sure if we can afford that right now... Tomorrow I plan on calling another lawyer to see what they say.

As far as the situation, he is safe and well taken care of. He bounces between his paternal great grandmothers house and maternal cousins house every two weeks. Both birth parents were supposed to step up but haven't been able to. They say they're not ready to be parents and are making the most responsible decision ever.

[RobinKay]

Originally Posted by zfamily

We had a free consult with a lawyer today who said that we could go ahead and bring him home, have parents sign the termination of rights, and then proceed with adoption. She said no home study needed, but then I called a Florida Adoption specialist and they said since first cousin is 4th degree we would need a home study. I'm not sure if we can afford that right now... Tomorrow I plan on calling another lawyer to see what they say.

As far as the situation, he is safe and well taken care of. He bounces between his paternal great grandmothers house and maternal cousins house every two weeks. Both birth parents were supposed to step up but haven't been able to. They say they're not ready to be parents and are making the most responsible decision ever.

Call Catholic Charities or Legal Aide to see if someone can do the home study for minimal charge or free.

[zfamily]

Thank you so much! I will call both in the morning.

[feelingreyt]

Keep us posted!
I forgot to say Congrats yesterday, so sorry!

Congratulations!!!

[luckyshamrock]

Congratulations.
You should be able to do a homestudy through children's department of family services. It is free or very minimal in charges.