Legal Question in Family Law in Utah

Re: do it yourself adoption kit

One can do an adoption without an attorney. There are some things which a court will want to see before allowing an adoption - including mature, stable adoptive parents, with the ability and resources to raise a child. A homestudy is almost always required, and must be provided through a neutral party, generally Social Services.

There are agencies which can assist with the adoption, including but not limited to various churches and private organizations. You may also get some help from Utah Legal Services at little or no cost.

If you insist on doing everything your self you should go to a local district courthouse and obtain a copy of documents used in a recent adoption to use as a guide for the form and content.

If you are not certain whether you will qualify as an adoptive parent, these organizations can be helpful to provide some guidance. Remember that the court looks to an adoptive parent who will be in the best interests of the child, not the adopting party or birth mother. Some prospectice adoptive parents have the desire, but not all of the resources. Good luck.

Re: do it yourself adoption kit

You can adopt privately. You must have a homestudy done. In Utah a social worker can complete a homestudy report, but most social worker that are not working with an agency the state social services dont have a clue how to do one. The cost through a private agency for just the home study is usually $300 to $500. There are many things that need to be carefully done and your question does not answer everything I need to know to advise you properly. It would probably be a mistake to try and do this your self. There is no such thing as a do it yourself kit for adoption. You need to comply with the laws of Utah and the laws of the state where the child is born. You need to have the birth parent(s)sign consents to the adoption. The mother usually signs in front of a judge. You need to prepare a legally binding consent. You cannot just go to the court house and get copies of soneone else's adoption papers and copy them. These are sealed records and not available to the public. Even attorneys cannot see an adoption file unless they are the attorney of record. The closes think I can offer is to oversee the adoption and prepare the proper papers for you. You can then appear in court yourself and save much of the fees. Most attorney/s will charge a fee of $1000 to $2000 to handle the adoption without unusual problems such as terminating the fathers rights or doing an interstate adoption (where the child is born in a different state than you reside) Please be careful. failure to comply with the laws could cause your adoption to fail. You can read the code sections relating to adoption if you would like. They are on line or you can go to a law library.

Sincerely

John A. Giffen