Scott Law Firm provides legal representation to all types of parties in adoption proceedings. In some routine adoptions, a fixed fee is charged. In more complicated situations, fees are based on the time required to complete the necessary legal work. The following topics are covered on this page:

Definition of adoption

Through the adoption procedure a person becomes the legal parent of another person who is not the adopting parent’s natural child. Often a husband and wife jointly adopt a child or children.

After an adoption, for legal purposes, adoptive parents are viewed as if they were the natural parents of the adoptive child. Among other things, this means they assume all legal responsibilities that a natural parent normally has for a child, including duties of physical care and financial support. Adoptive parents and adopted children may inherit from each other just as natural parents and their children do.

On the other hand, the process of adoption severs all legal ties between an adopted child’s natural parents and the child. The natural parents no longer have any legal rights or responsibilities with respect to the child.

Top of Page

Parties to an adoption

As the foregoing implies, there are three parties to any adoption:

Top of Page

Typical adoption situations

Other than the step-parent adoptions mentioned below, the circumstances leading to a child being available for adoption are varied. Some common situations are:

So-called "step-parent adoptions" are the most common type of adoption and arise in three circumstances:

Most adoptions involve minor children, but it is also possible to adopt an adult (generally someone over the age of 18). The procedure outlined below is generally oriented toward the adoption of minor children, but the basic procedure also applies to adult adoptions.

Top of Page

Adoption procedure

The adoption process starts with the filing of a petition for adoption in the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court. The law requires that persons seeking to adopt a child be of good moral character and possess the ability to care for, maintain and educate the adoptive child. As in other areas of the law relating to children, the primary guideline considered by judges in ruling on adoptions is the best interests and welfare of the child.

Missouri's adoption laws provide for anonymity of all participants in the adoption process. To remove the process from public scrutiny, access to adoption records is strictly limited. The restrictions apply to the natural parents, adoptive parents and the adoptive child. Even long after an adoption has been approved by the court, there are legal restrictions on an adopted adult’s ability to obtain information about his or her natural parents.

A child may be placed for adoption by his or her natural parents, the Division of Family Services if the parental rights of the natural parents have been terminated by court order, by a licensed adoption agency, or by an attorney, physician or clergyman. However, no transfer of actual physical custody for the purpose of adoption may take place without prior court approval. Before any placement is approved by the court, an investigation must be completed by licensed social workers on both the adoptive parents and the natural parents.

There are strict rules limiting the types of expenses adoption petitioners can pay. They are only allowed to pay for hospital, medical and physician expenses, court costs and fees for legal services, fees or expenses of an adoption agency, fees for home studies, counseling services for a parent or child for a reasonable time before and after the child’s placement for adoption, and any other services the court finds to be reasonably necessary. Adoption petitioners are required to disclose to the court all payments related to the adoption. If they have paid unallowed expenses, or if the expenses are deemed unreasonably high, the court may not allow the adoption. In contrast to many other states, Missouri does not allow adoption petitioners to pay for the living expenses of the natural parents.

With certain exceptions, before a minor child may be adopted, the written consent of the natural parents must be obtained. The exceptions are that consent is not required from a natural parent:

The written consent of the prospective adoptive child is also required if the child is at least 14 years old.

When a person to be adopted is 18 years old or older, his or her consent is sufficient, and no consent is required from his or her natural parents.

Under Missouri law the adoption process generally requires two court hearings. At the first hearing, if the court is satisfied that everything is in order, the court orders transfer of legal custody of the child to the adoptive parent or parents. Before the court enters a final decree of adoption, the petitioners must have had actual legal custody for the child for at least nine months. After nine months, the second hearing is held, at which time the court decides whether it is appropriate to finally grant the adoption.

When an adoption proceeding is filed, the court will appoint an attorney to act as "guardian ad litem" to represent the interests of the child. Also, a licensed social worker will be appointed to conduct home studies of the petitioners and the birth parents, and both of these studies must be filed in court before any hearings can be scheduled. Home studies will explore whether the birth parents knowingly and voluntarily placed the child for adoption, whether the adoptive parents have the ability to meet the needs of the child, and whether the adoptive parents are fully informed about the financial, economic and medical background of the proposed adoptive child.

At the first court hearing, the social worker will be asked by the court for a recommendation whether the transfer of legal custody of the child to the petitioner(s) should be allowed. If the transfer of legal custody is allowed at the first hearing, the social worker will remain in touch with the adoptive parent(s) during the following nine-month period and will report to the court at the final adoption hearing about the progress of both the child and the adoptive parent(s).

The procedure outlined above may vary in step-parent adoptions. First, in a step-parent adoption, the court may decide that a home study is not necessary; this decision usually depends on whether both natural parents consent to the adoption. Second, the court can waive the nine-month period of temporary custody in a step-parent adoption so that only one hearing is required.

The adult adoption procedure also varies from that outlined above. In the ordinary adult adoption, no home studies are required and only one hearing is necessary.

After a final decree of adoption is entered by the court, the clerk of the court will send a certificate of adoption to the Missouri Bureau of Vital Statistics, which will then seal the child’s original birth certificate and issue a new birth certificate showing the adoptive parents as the natural parents of the child.

Top of Page

[ Home ] [ Up ]

Inquiries about legal representation and comments about this web site may be emailed to sscott@scottlawfirm.com. We will endeavor to respond promptly but will not provide specific legal advice by email except to established clients. Please see our Notices and Disclaimers. Except as otherwise noted on particular pages, this entire web site is Copyright © 1998-2007 by Scott Law Firm Professional Corporation, Columbia, Missouri, U.S.A. Except as otherwise authorized with respect to landlord forms, site visitors may reproduce materials on this site for personal use only. All copies of copyrighted pages must include our copyright notice.