2 Reasons To Consider A Family Lawyer When Adopting
Among the most complex types of cases that a family lawyer will deal with in his or her career are adoption cases, mostly because of the many things that can potentially go wrong with the process. Listed below are just two reasons to consider hiring a family lawyer when you are attempting to adopt a child.
Finding An Adoption Agency
A major reason to consider utilizing a family lawyer is to avoid any complications that could arise from doing business with a disreputable or fraudulent adoption agency. A family lawyer can attempt to help you avoid dealing with these types of agencies by doing background checks on the agencies before you actually pay the agencies anything. While researching the agencies, the attorney is going to look for some of the most common red flags in order to protect you from losing your money and wasting your time.
One of the biggest red flags that the attorney will be looking for will be a member of the management staff at the agency who has a history of fraud. Other common red flags that your attorney will look for include an agency that has only been operating for a short amount of time, numerous complaints against that agency, or a lack of any type of physical address.
If you want to avoid the hassle of looking for an adoption agency, or simply want to avoid the risk of running into a fraudulent one, your attorney can help you there as well. In that situation, an attorney can put you in touch with agencies that his or her firm have worked with in past cases.
Creating A Contract
Another way that your attorney can help you is by creating a contract that you and the birth parent or parents must sign if you are to proceed with a private adoption. The contract will lay out exactly what is expected of everyone involved in order for you to adopt the child. For example, this contract will state that you are paying for certain medical bills and other expenses with the expectation that you will be given the right to adopt the child when he or she is born.
If the birth parent or parents choose to break that contract and keep the child, you can then use the contract in court to increase your chances of being repaid for all of the bills that you paid. Sure, this won't help you get the child, but it will help you avoid adding a financial loss on top of the emotional strain of losing the child.
Contact a family law firm in your area—like Martin Lawyers or another firm—to discuss how they can assist with your adoption. These types of law firms and lawyers can help you by creating a contract to protect you from financial loss in a private adoption while also being able to help you avoid fake or disreputable agencies.
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