ADOPTION ATTORNEY IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
Growing Your Family With Adoption
It is exciting when you make the decision to add a child to your family. You cannot wait for the day to arrive when you provide a permanent loving home for them. Unfortunately, there are a few legal hoops that parents must jump through to adopt a child. Requirements tend to be simpler for adoptive parents looking to add a relative to their home via a private adoption. Stepparents and grandparents must show they are able to meet the financial needs of the child. People looking to adopt a child from the custody of the Department of Children's Services, regardless of their relationship to the child, must complete a home study and be approved.
Adoption is not a quick or cheap process, but it can be made easier with the help of an attorney. At the Law & Mediation Office of Sarah Turner, we offer comprehensive and knowledgeable family law services for adoptive parents. We have extensive experience helping people through the adoption process in Tennessee. We have assisted with the following types of adoption:
Private adoptions
Agency adoptions
Relative adoptions
The Two-Step Legal Process for Adoption
We take complex legal issues and turn them into simple solutions. We will walk you through the two-step adoptive process so you can move forward with your new family.
Step one: biological parental rights must be terminated. This step can take anywhere from weeks to months to complete. If the adoption is contested then the process could stretch on for years. Contested adoptions occur when the biological parent or parents do not agree with the adoption. This can lead to a number of interviews and a lengthy approval process. We will work to move this step forward as quickly as possible. We will explain appropriate steps to terminate the biological parent's rights promptly and without error.
Step two: establish your parental rights. This step is initiated by filing a petition for adoption. In Tennessee, non-relative adoptions can be finalized six months after your child has been placed in the home. Let us guide you through the adoption process to achieve the best results possible.
Schedule an Appointment with A Knowledgeable Adoption Lawyer
Contact our Memphis office location today to schedule an appointment with our attorney. We will walk you through the legal process and everything in between. Reach us by calling, or fill out our online contact form.