Families arrive at the decision to adopt a child or children for a multitude of reasons. Some families want to grow their families, are looking to give back to children in need, or in some instances families never intended on adopting and family or kinship circumstances bring children into their lives unexpectedly. Regardless of how they arrive at the decision to adopt, every adoptive family opens their heart to a child and welcomes them into their family. An adoption is a tremendous act of opening your family to include and love another child or children. We are here to assist adoptive parents or birth parents through this process, and take pride in helping families grow.
What type of adoptions does Myers & Associates, PLLC handle?
Department of Child Safety (DCS)/ FOSTER CARE ADOPTION:
A common path to adoption is foster/adopt or adopting a legally free child directly from the foster care or state child welfare agency. Foster parents are licensed through individual agencies contracted with the state. The licensing process requires several weeks of foster parent education courses, called PS-MAPPS in Arizona, a home study, background checks, and a licensing inspection.
Children adopted through are typically eligible for adoption subsidy, which usually means no out of pocket expense for adoptive parents. Foster parents are entitled to select any private attorney to complete their DCS adoption and are not limited in their selection. Myers & Associates attorneys are well versed in handling foster care adoptions and frequently work with the Department statewide to accomplish adoptions in a variety of counties. When selecting your attorney it is important to ensure they are experienced with DES adoptions, as it is important to have counsel that can advise you on the subsidy process.
PRIVATE ADOPTION:
Myers & Associates works with private individuals seeking to adopt from birth parents, as well as representing birth parents seeking to place their child(ren) with a family privately.
Recently we have seen situations that have had heartbreaking consequences because there was a lack of planning and legal actions taken prior to the birth of a child intended for private adoption. If you are considering a private adoption contact us right away so we can take legal steps to ensure as smooth a process as possible.
STEP PARENT ADOPTION:
A stepparent adoption is the formalized process of a stepparent taking legal responsibility for their step child. After a stepparent adoption, the stepparent has all the same rights, responsibilities, and obligations to the child as if it was their own natural born child. We encourage clients to look for counsel experienced in Juvenile Law matters when seeking a stepparent adoption.
ADULT ADOPTIONS:
Myers & Associates, PLLC can assist in formalizing a parent-child relationship even after an individual has turned eighteen. There are several reasons to take this step even in adulthood, including estate planning. Sometimes families simply want to legally recognize a relationship they know already exists.
