Training Course
Syllabus:
A Practical Walkthrough for Adoption Law Practitioners and Beginners
This course offers a streamlined review of the adoption process from start to finish. Whether you're just getting into this area of practice or are looking for a refresher, our faculty will help you clarify procedure and manage all the parties involved. Simplify the process with our sample forms and checklists, and anticipate any roadblocks or conflicts. Register today!
- Get a walkthrough of the adoption process from start to finish, including the roles and rights of all the parties involved.
- Use our sample letters, forms, and checklists to keep each adoption case on track.
- Mediate and draft enforceable post-adoption contact agreements.
- Find out how the role of the birth father differs in child adoption vs. surrogacy.
- Identify key grounds for dispensing with consent.
- Answer your clients' questions about adoption tax credits, birth mother expenses, and other financial aspects of adoption.
- Get the latest on ART and learn to draft better donor contracts.
- Uphold the highest standards of the legal profession – explore common ethical dilemmas of adoption practice.
- KEY RULES AND FIRST STEPS
9:00 - 9:55, Jason R. Scott
- Qualifications of the Adopting Parent and Adopted Child
- Types of Adoptions and Their Procedural Steps (Foster, Single Parent, Relative, Step-Parent, Gay/Lesbian, Adult Adoption, etc.)
- Interstate Adoptions/ICPC (Interstate Compact on Placement of Children)
- International Adoption (Hague/Working with the Adoption Agency)
- Required and Recommended Notices
- Forms to Fill Out and Documents to Obtain
- Timeline and Deadlines
- Filing the Petition: What to Include
- Post-Adoption Contact Agreements - Family Code § 8616.5
- Pre-Placement Assessment – When is it Required?
- BIO PARENTS AND CONSENT PROCEDURES
9:55 - 10:35, Jason R. Scott
- Consent vs. Relinquishment of Rights, and Implications of Each
- Consent/Relinquishment of Rights Procedure
- Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
- Absent/Deceased Birth Parent(s)
- Drafting Post-Adoption Contact Agreements
- Putative Father Rights and Registry
- Deployed Bio Fathers' Consent under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
- FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF ADOPTIONS
10:50 - 11:40, Sheri E. Cohen
- Medicaid
- Group Insurance Coverage under OBRA 1987
- Birth Mother Expenses – Penal Code §§ 273 & 181
- Adoption Tax Credits
- Tax Credit for Adopting a Child with Special Needs
- Tax Credit for Adoption of a Child without Special Needs
-
“Refundable” vs. “Non-Refundable” Credit
- Adoption Assistance
- Reimbursement for Non-Recurring Expenses
- Social Security
- FINALIZING THE ADOPTION AND POST-PLACEMENT FOLLOW-UP
11:40 - 12:30, Sheri E. Cohen
- Final Hearing Request and the Documents It Must Contain
- When must the Adopting Parents Appear, and When May Their Appearance at the Hearing be Waived?
- At the Final Hearing
- Protecting the Record
- Disrupted Adoptions
- CONTESTED ADOPTIONS
1:30 - 2:20, Douglas R. Donnelly
- Right to Counsel for Parents
- Consolidation of Adoption Paternity Cases
- Legal Grounds for Dispensing with Consent
- Standard and Burden of Proof
- Abandonment (Family Code § 7822)
- Failure to Support in Stepparent Adoptions (Family Code § 8604)
- Felony Record of Parent (Family Code § 7825)
- Child in Guardianship for 2 Years (Probate Code § 1516.5)
- Uniform Parentage Act (Family Code §§ 7662 & 7664)
- Parental Unfitness and Child's Best Interest
- Dispensing with Guardian's Consent
- Custody Determination when Adoption is Dismissed
- Time Period for Challenging Adoption Decree
- LEGAL ETHICS
2:35 - 3:35, Douglas R. Donnelly
- Competence and Compassion
- Confidentiality
- Reasonable Fees
- Legal Ethics and Non-Attorney Intermediaries
- ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
3:35 - 4:05, Sheri E. Cohen
- Consent/Notice/Relinquishment of Rights Procedure
- Pre-Birth Meetings and Procedures
- Other Surrogacy Adoption Considerations
- Donor Contracts: Drafting and Contesting
- Birth Parent Counseling (Grief, Loss, Attachment)
- Cutting-Edge Legal Issues in ART
- ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act)
4:05 - 4:30, Panel Discussion
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