Adult Adoptions Explained
We want to focus with you for a bit on Adult Adoptions. If you’re on this page, you probably already know that adults can get adopted. When people think about adoptions, they think about cute little babies or children running around who have no homes. Well, adults can actually be adopted by other adults. There are certain guidelines that have to be followed in every adoption, whether it’s the adoption of a child or an adult. So, whether or not the process is easy or hard, just depends on the level of comfort the family law attorney or the adopter has with the process.
We do these types of adoptions all the time. So for us, the process is going to be a lot easier because we can help navigate you through it. Regardless of what your family looks like, we provide the compassionate, dedicated representation you deserve. We’ve got over 15 years of experience under our belt. We’ve written about adoption in the past. Check out our recent video by Family Law Attorney Joy Edwards on the most common types of adoption (not just adult adoption).
If you’re looking for more detailed information or if you’re looking to set up a consultation contact us today by calling our Atlanta office at 770.723.7211 or contact us online. We are based in Atlanta and work throughout the state of Georgia.
What is an Adult Adoption?
For every single adoption, the person adopting must be in most cases at least 10 years older than the person being adopted. So can a 20-year-old adopt an 18-year-old, even if they’re both adults, probably not a court is going to look at a case like that very, very carefully to make sure everything is done properly. That’s the benefit for you of hiring us. We know how to get through these curves and turns to make sure that your adult adoption goes smoothly and is successful.
A third question our family law practice sees is, “How much paperwork do I have to do for the adult adoptions?” The answer is: you still have to do a lot of paperwork. If you’re doing it yourself, you probably have to do a lot more but adoptions are very, very particular, that means that if one T is not crossed or one I is not dotted properly, then the whole thing can fall apart and be a whole lot more complicated than it needs to be.
Adult adoptions do go through a lot quicker than adoptions with children. We didn’t help write the code and laws but the process behind it and the thinking behind it was that the court doesn’t necessarily have to be as protective of adults as they do with children, making sure they land in the right home with everything that they need. For adults, they assume that you know what you need, both parties agree, you’re both adults, you can take care of yourself. So those processes do go through a lot quicker, but there’s still a lot of paperwork involved.
The last little tidbit we’ll leave you with is a huge bonus of adult adoptions. That is that the legal parent does not have to surrender their parental rights and they don’t have to give their consent to the adoption. It’s a little bit nutty but you can actually go forward with the adoption and your legal parent doesn’t even have to know about it. It all sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it’s only simply because we do adult adoptions all the time.
Veteran Atlanta Family Law Attorneys
Adoptions are our happy place. As long as they’re successful, everyone gets this huge thrill out of the process. The judges like doing them. We like doing them and we love helping out folks get their families legally situated. So if you came here to find out more about adult adoptions and you are ready to go forward, pick up the phone, give us a call. We are here happy and willing to help you formalize that legal process.
