[amyfk]

Hi to the List,

I hope you are all having a good new year.
I have been reading these forums and about readoption. Originally I didnt want to do one. I put papers into Trenton our capital and I have an American birth certificate for my child.
Then on some of the forums I read about the benefits of readoption. I got the number of an adoption atty. in my state and she was very kind and honest with me.
From what she told me, basically to readopt in NJ, you have to do a lot of paperwork, almost like completing another full dossier for an adoption. In addition you have to have current fingerprints. If not you have to go again. Also, you needed to have kept many of the documents from your original dossier/adoption which is needed for the readoption dossier. I was also told Id need another report from my homestudy agency(read more money). Lastly Id have to pay about 3K for the readoption.
In NJ I can get my child's NJ birth certificate. I have all of my kid's papers. The atty. told me that basically in NJ it's important to readopt if you are afraid you lose any of the original documents from Russia from court or if you need a child's name change.
Honestly after talking tothis kind woman, IM on the fence. I thought it would be relatively cheap and easy to do. I was stunned at the amount of time and money involved. Can anyone give me any reasons why they feel I should move forward? Im weighing my options.
Thanks,
Amy K, NJ

[DPline]

You might want to post your question on the Guat forum. I know there are people from NJ that have readopted that might be able to give you a good idea of what is truely involved. Readoption varies by states, but I have never heard of a situation where it is as involved as what you are describing.

Good luck!

[bmarsicano]

Amy,

Hi. I finally adopted my daughter on 12/23. It took me 2 years before I finally got my paperwork together. It cost me around $250. I got all the paperwork from the county surrogate. I filled them out and had to get fingerprints redone and the police clearance. The home study agency just had to do a report. I submitted the paperwork with the $175 I think filing fee. That was in Sept and they sent me the paperwork to fill out for her birth certificate. I'm getting 2 copies. That was around $60 or less. I went to court with my daughter, and just had to answer a few questions, and that was it. Pictures took longer. I can pm you my phone number if you want to discuss further. I did this by myself without an attorney.

[mcanvasback]

The only reason I would re adopt is to get an American b cert. I don't have to re adopt in MD to do that, so I'm not going to. If you already have the b cert, I don't see a reason to go to the expense and time.

[amyfk]

Thank you all for your help. I appreciate it. Barbara, I will be in touch in a few days. I didnt know you could do it without an atty. 3K is a bit steep, especially these days!
I just started a part-time job, but over the weekend I will have time to call. Thanks for giving me your number.
Amy K, NJ

[amyfk]

Thanks Debbie, I will post it to the Guat form in a day or so. From what I was told, doing the readoption in NJ seems as hairy as adopting the first time. I just dont get it.
Amy K, NJ

[DPline]

I honestly think the attorney you spoke to is wrong. I did a search for 'New Jersey Readoption' but didn't find anything very specific. Though there were NJ people who posted that they had done it themselves. Without an attorney. A 'NJ readoption' search only brings up the word 'readoption' - 'NJ' is too short - and after slogging through several pages I wasn't finding anything specific, though I am sure it is there somewhere!

The Guat forum doesnt' get the traffic it once did, but hopefully there is still someone around who can give you some accurate information.

You also might try calling your county courthouse (sometimes Circut, sometimes Probate) and see if you can get any information.

Good luck!

[waitinginnj]

That attorney is a rip off. I used an attorney and it cost $750. It was a couple of years ago, but that was all of the fees and the attorney. You do need an updated homestudy report. I did not have to get my fingerprints redone. I timed it with my post placement and asked them to write the additional report. I don't remember what they charged, but the fact that I don't remember means it couldn't have been horrible.

I also know people that have done it themselves.

The attorney that several of used is Ed Schneider. He is in Marlboro and also has offices in NYC. He can give you a quote and the list of documents.

[amyfk]

Thanks waitinginnj. I will look into that atty. you mentioned as he is local to me. Glad to know I can do it more reasonably.
Amy K, NJ

[hg808]

I got all the paperwork from the county (Morris) and was quoted about $500 for DIY readoption. The county person told me that it was quite doable to complete the readoption on my own. She mentioned, however, that these readoptions are rare.

I did not proceed with readoption, as my children have US birth certificates from Trenton. Right now, I am more concerned with getting back their original documents used for passports (we got their US passports yesterday, but were told that the rest of the documents have been mailed back to us separately, and we have not received them yet).

Could someone remind me please why it is important to readopt in NJ.

Helen

[amyfk]

from what I was told Helen, if your child came home on an IR-3 visa it's not necessary to do the readoption. Also if your child doesnt need a name change then it's also not necessary. The main reason she stated that one needs to do this readoption, in her estimation, is if you lose some of the child's original russian documents. It's easier if the papers are in the American courts. This came from a very honest atty. whom I spoke with in No. Jersey a week ago.
I have played telephone tag with my homestudy worker. She is away. When she comes home she told me she will look more into this. I hope others can enlighten me as well.
I also have my dd's American birth certificate, which I got from filling out some papers and sending in money to Trenton without doing the readoption.
I hope others here can enlighten us more.
Thanks,
Amy K, NJ

[DPline]

In addition to a state issued BC and doing a name change (both of which in some states is only available through readoption) and easier to replace documents, another reason for readoption is to get a US-issued adoption decree.

There have been court cases where family members have called into question the validity of a foreign adoption decree in an attempt to show the adopted child as not being a legal heir. While probably most of us don't have assets worth fighting over and would never expect that of my family members, you never know what could happen down the road.

There is also the argument that should world politics change in the future and the adoption decrees from the foreign country be called into question, you would have the US-issued decree.

I live in Michigan which has no provision for readoption so it isn't a possibility for me, but honestly if the option was there I would do it. Maybe paranoid, but I like to think of it as covering all the bases for my kids.

[MamaChinch]

I can't speak to NJ procedures, but you know we just did Delaney's here in CA, and I had our home study agency do an additional report off of our last post-placement. They helped a lot with most of it and there were only a few forms to fill out and the hearing, only spent a few hundres dollars. It was really treated like an adoption for the court purposes.
My main reason was to not have to give up the Russian docs.

[amyfk]

Thank you all for your help. Much appreciated! Amy K, NJ

[april*rain]

Hi Amy,

We live in NJ, too, and haven't even considered re-adopting. We did obtain NJ-issued birth certificates, and Ethan's original Russian documents are in our safe deposit box at the bank so they are safe and sound. I honestly see no reason to re-adopt. Our children are American citizens and their adoptions are legally recognized. I can not foresee any circumstance where the validity would ever be questioned (and, if it was, that it would ever be deemed not to be valid).

We see no reason at all to go through the time, expense, and hassle of re-adopting, and won't be doing so.

Just my two cents