Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Contested Adoption

Who altered the date stamp? A clerk can correct an error. Other people

cannot legally alter the court file.

The court can refuse access to the court file in an adoption since the files by

law are confidential. If you need to appeal, the transcript will be provided to you. Your

question is very unclear about your connection with the case, your need for the transcript, and

the basis on which the transcript is not provided. If the transcript, for example, is not

relevant to your rights in the matter, the statutory confidentiality of the court files of an

adoption would justify the court's decision.

The court files of an adoption are confidential. This does not necessarily bind attorneys for a party,

although in some instances they are officers of the court. The order of adoption is a "judgment" which is

included in the "judgment roll" which is a public document (although access is sometimes restricted). By law,

certain material is not supposed to be in the order of adoption. I would not think providing this document to another party,

with the consent of the lawyer's clients, would be illegal.

Jed Somit

Jed Somit, Attorney at Law

1440 Broadway - Suite 910