Virginia Adoption Lawyers

Cases involving adoption and termination of parental rights can be emotional and stressful for all parties involved. Your case is too important not to have an experienced Virginia adoption attorney on your side. 

Adoption is the process whereby children who have been permanently and legally separated from their birth parents are placed with new parents. The adoptive parents are given the same rights and obligations as biological parents, while the rights and obligations of the biological parents are terminated.

Virginia law permits only two types of placements for adoption: those made by duly authorized agencies (public social services departments and private licensed child placing agencies) and those made by birth parents or legal guardians.

Agency Placement Adoptions

Agency placements occur when the child is in the custody of a local department of social services or licensed child-placing agency. In this situation, all parental rights are terminated, custody with authority to place for adoption is granted to the agency, and the agency consents to the child's adoption.

Non-Agency Adoptions

A non-agency placement occurs when the child is not in the custody of an agency. In a non-agency placement, the birth parents or legal guardian(s) consent to the adoption, and parental rights are terminated by entry of the final order of adoption.

Except for licensed or duly authorized child-placing agencies, only birth parents and legal guardians are allowed to place a child for adoption in Virginia. Although anyone may provide assistance to birth parents in locating a prospective adoptive family and to adoptive parents in locating a child, only birth parents and legal guardians may actually place the child for adoption.

There are three different types of non-agency adoptions:

1. Stepparent adoptions: A stepparent adoption takes place when the spouse of a birth or adoptive parent is adopting the child. In this situation, consent has been obtained or is not required. An investigation will only take place if the court determines it is necessary before the adoption is finalized. If the court does consider an investigation necessary, the agency becomes involved when the adoption petition is filed and the Circuit Court enters the order of reference.
2. Parental Placement Adoptions: In a parental placement adoption, the approved child placing agency completes a home study report and a petition is filed in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for execution of consent and awarding of custody to the prospective adoptive parents. The Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court reviews the home study report and collateral material to determine whether the requirements of law have been met, accepts parental consent, and transfers custody to the adoptive parents. An adoption petition may then be filed in Circuit Court. 
   
   The overall steps in a parental placement adoption are as follows:(i) the agency receives a request for a home study; (ii) a home study is completed; (iii) a report of the home study is submitted to the juvenile and domestic relations district court; (iv) adoptive parents file a petition for execution of consent in juvenile and domestic relations district court; (v) that court accepts consent and awards custody to the prospective adoptive parents; (vi) a petition for adoption is filed in the Circuit Court; (vii) the Circuit Court enters an interlocutory order of adoption if everything has been done in compliance with law; and (viii) after a six-month supervisory period, the Circuit Court enters a final order of adoption.
3. Adult Adoptions: An adult adoption is the adoption of any person who is 18 years of age or older at the time that the adoption petition is filed. In an adult adoption, the agency first becomes involved when the adoption petition is filed in Circuit Court.

Contact us to schedule your consultation with an experienced adoption attorney today.

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For a limited time, schedule an initial 1-hour consultation with a Livesay & Myers adoption lawyer for just $150 (Fairfax, Manassas) or $100 (Fredericksburg). Contact us today to take advantage of this discounted rate.