The Attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C.
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Adopting a child is one of the most important legal decisions a family can make. In Indiana, however, adoption is more than simply completing paperwork and appearing before a judge. The Indiana adoption process involves legal requirements concerning consent, notice,...
Like everyone and everything in life, the judicial system isn’t perfect. Mistakes are made. Sometimes, these mistakes can result in an improper verdict or decision. Adoption proceedings are no different. Fortunately, our judicial system provides individuals with the opportunity to appeal certain rulings or decisions believed to be wrongly decided. But what all can be appealed in adoption proceedings? Can…
The short answer is, it depends. Generally speaking, a court may only grant a petition to adopt a child if written consent to adoption is executed by the child’s parents. However, like most everything in life, exceptions apply. But when do these exceptions apply? What are the circumstances when a parent’s consent is not required? In this blog, we provide…
For many of us, Grandparents played an important role in our lives. Now more than ever, grandparents seem to be actively involved in the raising of their grandchild(ren). In many instances, a grandparent may be raising their grandchild all together. If you have found yourself in such a situation, or you know someone who is, you may be wondering, “can…
Today, more than ever, children are being raised by third parties, including step-parents. When the non-custodial, biological parent does not stay involved in his/her child’s life, this often leads the step-parent (and child) to want to adopt. If the other biological parent is deceased or consents to the adoption, there is no legal barrier to prevent the adoption (assuming the…
Adoption (which is hand in hand with termination of parental rights) is unique in that it can completely sever forever and all time a natural (or prior adoptive parent) parents (constitutional and fundamental) right to raise his or her own child with limits on a state’s right to interfere. The way adoption does this in legal terms is by consent…
The story of Baby Veronica has been making headlines in the recent weeks following a transfer of the case from the South Carolina Supreme Court, to the United States Supreme Court, and the resulting United States Supreme Court decision overturning the ruling by the South Carolina courts. In the case of Adoptive Couple vs. Baby Girl, Biological Father and Mother…
There are two general types of adoptions of a minor child. The new family adoption, and the step-parent adoption. First, the new family adoption, which terminates both the Mother and Father’s parental rights, and the new family (new mother and father) acquire the same parental rights as the biological parents once had.1 The second type of adoption is commonly known…
Adoption laws and cases can often be complex and full of many twists and turns. Today I want to focus on adoptions involving family members, close friends, or often Foster parents vs. new family type adoptions. In many cases, family members, friends, or foster parents spend significant time raising a child, and/or a natural becomes unable to care for his…
As the family dynamic shifts from the nuclear family to a more extended and/or unconventional family unit, persons other than parents are often helping to raise children. For example, a grandparent might raise a child if the parent is unwilling or unable. Or, a step-parent may become a primary caregiver while one parent is not involved with the child. In…