Adoption in North Carolina

Cary Adoption Attorneys

Adoption is the process of establishing the legal relationship of a parent and child between persons who are not already related by blood.NC state statutes governing adoption should be understood as a process of selecting fit parents for children and for promoting the welfare of a child, not of finding children for adoptive parents.

After an adoption, relationship between the adoptee-child and his or her natural, biological parents and their families is severed. This means the biological parents are relieved of all their legal rights and obligations toward the child.

From the date the adoption decree is signed, the adoptee-child has the same legal status as a legitimate child born to the adoptive-parent. The child may inherit his or her adoptive parents’ estate through intestate succession..

However, this does not apply to stepparent adoptions, when a stepparent adopts his or her stepchild. This type of adoption does not terminate the relationship of the child with his or her natural, biological parent.

NC Adoption Laws

The procedures for legal adoptions will differ depending on whether it is a private adoption or agency adoption, but all of these procedures must follow legal procedure. Because strict compliance with the laws is required, we recommend that you speak with one of our Cary adoption attorneys about your North Carolina child adoption.

North Carolina laws regarding adoption:

• Adoption proceedings are meant to promote the welfare of the child and as such, procedures must verify that the adoptive parents have the ability to provide for the needs and protect the interests the adoptive minors
• The adoptive parents are protected from adopting a child without knowledge of the child's heredity and state of health. The privacy rights of all parties to an adoption are also protected.
• Adoption statutes strongly discourage illegal trafficking in children for the purposes of adoption.
• Any person over the age of 18 may adopt another individual, with the only caveat under Chapter 48 being that spouses may not adopt each other. And any person may be adopted.

The Legal Process of North Carolina Adoption

The legal process for adoption begins with the filing of your Petition for Adoption. To complete your petition, various documents must be included.

Important documents in an adoption include:

• Your preplacement assessment;
• The consents to adoption from the biological parents;
• The certified copy of the background information on the adoptee-child's health, educational social, and genetic history
• The affidavit from the biological mother indicating the names, known addresses and marital status of the biological parents;
• The document identifying any individual whose consent to the adoption is required
• An affidavit accounting for any payment made in connection with the adoption; and
• Any court order or pleading regarding the adoptee-child's custody or visitation; and

Upon the filing of your Petition for Adoption, notice of its filing must be served on any individual whose consent to the adoption is required by law and whose consent had not been obtained at the time your petition was filed. Chapter 48 sets out in detail those individuals from whom consent to the adoption is required as well as the correct procedure by which to serve these individuals.

By statute, the court is required to set a hearing date on your adoption petition within 90 days after you file your petition for adoption. The hearing or disposition of your adoption petition must take place within 6 months after the date you file your adoption petition.

If your petition is unopposed, there is no need for a hearing. If you have been found to be a fit adoptive parent and no one opposes the adoption, you can be assured that your petition for adoption will be granted. If a hearing is necessary, the court must find upon a preponderance of the evidence that the adoption is in the best interests of the child, that you are a suitable adoptive parent, and that all the statutory procedural requirements for adoption have been met.

For guidance through your adoption matter, call us at (919) 348-2317.