What are the steps for a South Carolina DSS Adoption
If you are a foster parent or are applying to adopt a child through DSS, the process is sometimes glossed over when you are meeting with your adoptions worker at DSS. This happens for a few reasons: they're really busy and when you do something all day every day, you kind of forget the adoptive parents you are working with aren't used to the court process and have a lot of questions.
Getting Started in the DSS Adoption Process
Foster parents can enter the DSS adoptions area at different times. In this post we will talk about what to expect once the child you are adopting is legally free to adopt - meaning the birth parents have relinquished their parental rights or their parental rights have been terminated and their appeals have been exhausted.Leading up to your approval as an adoptive family your home and backgrounds have been studied and you have been approved as an adoptive resource.
Selection of an Adoption Attorney
Once the child is legally free for adoption he or she is placed in your custody as an adoption placement and you will sign your adoption agreement with DSS.Around the same time you will choose the attorney you would like to work with to complete the adoption. The choice of attorney is up to you, regardless of what your adoptions worker tells you. They generally have a list of attorneys they have worked with in the past or that they like to work with if you do not know an attorney.
Once your attorney is chosen, they will send a notice of representation to DSS General Counsel’s office in Columbia. Shortly after that, the DSS general counsel’s office will send your adoption attorney confidential information about the children and birth parents that are needed for filing the petition for adoption in your case. This petition must be filed within 60 days of the date of placement of the child in your home for adoption (essentially the date of your adoption agreement). Your attorney will prepare the adoption petition and file that with the Family Court.
Filing the Adoption Petition
Once the adoption petition is filed, it will be served on DSS General Counsel in Columbia and the adoptions office. DSS General Counsel has 30 days to file an Answer responding to the petition. The birth parents will not have to be served or involved in this process because the birth parents' parental rights have either been terminated or relinquished. During this period a Guardian ad Litem will also be requested and appointed by the Family Court. The Guardian ad Litem in the adoption case is typically different from the Guardian who worked with the children in the initial DSS removal action. The Guardian ad Litem will begin their investigation immediately.When the DSS Answer has been filed and the Guardian ad Litem has completed their investigation it will be time to request a final hearing to approve the adoption.
Final Adoption Hearing
Depending on the county the adoption is filed in and the time of year, the time for hearings to be set can take from 4-8 weeks. In many DSS adoption cases, the children qualify as "special needs" which is a statutory definition relating to the child's family, siblings, age, or emotional disability. Being classified as special needs does not necessarily mean the child has a physical, mental, or emotional disability. This qualification further entitles the adoptive parents to additional benefits and contributions towards your adoption legal fees.
Typically, the final adoption hearing will last about 30 minutes. During this hearing the adoptive parent(s) will testify about their desire to adopt the child and discuss the bond that has been formed with the adoptive child. Following this hearing, the Family Court Judge will issue an adoption decree that finalizes the adoption.
Schedule a consultation to discuss your DSS Adoption
If you have questions about a DSS adoption, I would be happy to meet with you to discuss your adoption. You can schedule a consultation to discuss your adoption from DSS by following this link or by call Tripp Atkins at 864-558-0512.
What is an Adoption Home Study For?
In adoptions that are not "in family" adoptions such as step-parent or grandparent adoptions, South Carolina law requires that an adoption home study be completed. Two, in fact: a pre-placement home study and a post-placement study. But why?The pre-placement study is a a report that documents your home life. It is pretty intensive and digs into all areas of your family life: criminal background checks, child abuse registry searches, family finances, health, references, birth certificates. For example, this is not just looking to make sure you are married. It wants to know how your marriage is. Are there issues in your family that need dealing with? Does your extended family support your choice to adopt? What is your motivation to adopt?The ultimate goal is to make sure your family is ready for an adoptive placement and that it will be a healthy place for this child joining your family.The post placement study is a visit in your home with your family and the child to check on how things are going. There may be one post placement visit or multiples depending on the agency requirements.
How long will my adoption take?
The length of time that’s your adoption case will take will depend on many factors including the type of adoption (DSS adoption, grandparent adoption, stepparent adoption, private adoption agency adoption).
What is the Starting Point of the Adoption?
Another factor that impacts the time of an adoption is where we are starting. For example, are you matched with a birth mother yet through a private search or through the use of an adoption agency? If you are adopting through DSS, has the child been placed with you for adoption purposes and have the parents rights been terminated? Have the birth parents filed an appeal?
Before an adoption can be finalized, terminating the birth-parents’ rights is the first step before the child can be adopted. This can be a lengthy, highly-litigated process or it could be something that happens quickly because the parents agree to sign a voluntary consent to adopt. A contested trial could take several months to be scheduled and could last a few minutes up to several days for trial. Unfortunately, this uncertainty prevents us from being able to forecast exactly how long an adoption may take.
What if the adoption is not contested or an approved DSS Adoption
An uncontested step-parent adoption or grandparent adoption could be completed in as little as 90 days or so, while the process from start to finish through an independent or agency search could take upwards of two years.If you would like to discuss your options for adoption in South Carolina, please call Tripp at 864-558-0512 or use the form below to schedule a consultation to discuss your case. The consultation is complimentary and confidential.[contact-form-7 id="357" title="Contact form 1"]
What are the steps for a Grandparent Adoption in South Carolina?
Let’s Learn more about Grandparent Adoptions in South Carolina.
Are you a grandparent who has taken custody of your grandchildren? You've taken on a roll that is extremely important to your grandchildren, but just having legal custody is sometimes not the permanence the child deserves.
Grandparent adoptions are really no different to any other adoption. The primary exception is that you already have a biological relationship to the child.
So where do we start?
Private adoptions and agency adoptions require a home study to be performed prior to and after placement of the child for adoption. South Carolina law has an exception for that for in-family adoptions (including grandparent adoptions) are not required to have pre and post-placement home studies.
Voluntary Relinquishment of Parental Rights
Now that we do not have to worry about the pre-placement homestudy, we are ready to begin the legal process. For a child to be adopted, he or she must be “legally free” for adoption. That means the birth parents have given up their parental rights voluntarily or had their parental rights terminated by the Family Court. Often times birth parents in these situations will realize it serves the best interests of their children for the grandparents to be able to adopt the children and they will voluntarily sign a consent to the adoption. If a birth parent chooses to voluntarily relinquish his or her parental rights, then a Consent for Adoption document is prepared and the parent must meet with an independent lawyer to review the document, get legal advice about their rights, and to formally execute the document. This form has to be executed by special witnesses and be on a form that meets state statutory requirements. It is vital to have an experienced South Carolina adoption attorney assist in the preparation of this form to ensure it meets South Carolina statutory requirements.
Termination of Parental Rights.
Sometimes it isn't as easy as scheduling an appointment for the birth parents to sign a consent to the adoption. Perhaps they do not agree with the adoption. Other times their whereabouts are just unknown and they can't be located to consent to the adoption. When that happens in a grandparent adoption case, we will have to file to terminate the parental rights of the birth parents. South Carolina law gives us several grounds for termination of parental rights to consider in each case. These are things like a willful failure to financially support a child for more than six months, a willful failure to visit a child for more than six months, or a failure to complete a treatment plan within six months following a finding of child abuse or neglect.
In addition to a ground for termination of parental rights, the Court must also find that the termination of parental rights serves the child’s best interest.
Adoption
Once the Family Court has terminated the parental rights of the birth parents (or the birth parents have signed a voluntarily relinquishment of their parental rights), the grandchild is now free to be adopted. At this stage, we will ask the Court to consider your relationship with the child, how you have cared for him or her, the financial and emotional support that you have provided, and other matters that may interest the Court (e.g. your health, employment, and financial stability). Upon finding that the adoption will serve the child’s best interests, the Court would then approve your adoption.
Next Steps for your grandparent adoption:
Do you have questions about grandparent adoptions in South Carolina? Call Tripp at 864-558-0512 or schedule a consultation to discuss your grandparent adoption with him through this link.
Mediation in Adoption and Termination of Parental Rights Cases
Mediation is required by Order of the the Supreme Court of South Carolina to occur in the majority of legal actions filed in South Carolina prior to being able to request a final hearing. This is true in Family Court as well - and still true in termination of parental rights and adoption cases.Often times, lawyers handling these matters (regardless of whether they represent the adoptive parties or the birth parents) ask the Court to waive mediation in these cases because there is very little room for either side to make concessions.For example, in a divorce mediation the parties have a lot of issues to negotiate and thus there are a lot of places for the parties to give and take in order to reach an agreement that resolves the issues in the matter. In a termination of parental rights and adoption matter, the negotiation seems to have more of an all or nothing feel. Either the birth parents agree to consent to the adoption and relinquish their parental rights which allows the adoptive parties to adopt the child, or, the birth parents do not consent to the adoption and the adoptive parties either give up or proceed on with a contested adoption action. In South Carolina, we do not have a law that permits open adoptions - adoptions where birth parents can have court-ordered rights to continue some involvement in the child's life.Sometimes, there is a middle ground so mediation should probably be explored by parties to these kinds of cases.I recently participated in a mediation in a termination of parental rights and adoption action. This was a step-parent adoption case so only one parent was in the termination of parental rights seat. What looked to be a futile effort to satisfy a court requirement to mediate turned into a complete settlement. After full consideration of the issues - best case/worst case scenarios in a trial and the long term relationships with the child, this parent decided not to pursue retaining parental rights and elected to have the opportunity to send a farewell letter to the child, receive annual photo albums and reports about the child, and for the child to receive contact information in the future if he were to decide to contact his birth parent upon becoming an adult.I think all of the lawyers were a little shocked by the outcome. In this case the adoptive parents were able to adopt and the birth parent retained some connection to the child that is protected by court order. It was a unique resolution to the case instead of a rigid outcome that we so often think of when preparing to mediate these issues.
The Intersection of Private Custody Cases with DSS Abuse Allegations
Child custody cases are complex to begin with. We are working through parent personalities, parenting preferences and differences, and especially the emotional hurdles that are in place while having to negotiate giving up time with your children. When you add allegations of abuse and neglect into the mix, the case can become rather murky almost immediately.
DSS is involved in cases where there are allegations of child abuse or neglect. This may be physical abuse, sexual abuse, or related to educational neglect for not taking the child to school as required by law. There are a multitude of reasons DSS can be involved. Regrettably, sometimes it is the result of one parent concocting a theory of abuse to attempt to gain an advantage in the divorce or child custody case.
Once DSS is involved, the Family Court will rarely move forward with a custody issue until DSS has had an opportunity to complete an investigation. Typically, this is a 45 day period and you will now not only be working with your lawyer and a Guardian ad Litem in your custody case, but you will be working with a DSS case worker/investigator, a volunteer Guardian ad Litem in the DSS case, and possibly subject to completing treatment services such as parenting classes, drug treatment, and counseling.Additionally, your attorney fees and legal costs will increase exponentially. As long as the DSS case is open, the DSS caseworker and Guardian ad Litem are required to meet with the children at least one time per month.
Not only will your lawyer be working with you in your custody case, but you will need his assistance in the DSS case as well. This increases the number of court appearances and legal work this lawyer will do. It will also increase the scope of the investigation of the Guardian ad Litem in the private custody case thereby increasing his or her fees as well. Not to mention costs to obtain records, DSS case files, etc.
I have found that when DSS is involved in a case that also has a private custody component, they are more interested in seeking a finding of abuse or neglect (where it is called for) and making recommendations for treatment services, but not being involved in long term monitoring of case as may happen when there is not a private custody case pending.
What Should I Expect in my Divorce Mediation?
In November 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an order requiring all domestic relations actions in this state to be subject to mediation. So, if you are a part of a divorce action in South Carolina your case is subject to be mediated unless you resolve the outstanding issues on your own.A mediator is a trained neutral who will assist the parties in attempted to negotiate a settlement. He or she may be a lawyer, but is not required to be a lawyer. The mediator is completely neutral. That means, the mediator does not have an interest in the outcome of the case and has never been involved with either party such that there may be a conflict of interest. The mediator will listen to both parties, offer suggestions, discuss the possible outcomes in trial, and so forth. But, it is not the job of the mediator to determine the outcome of your case. In fact, that is exactly what you are trying to avoid. If you are unsuccessful in mediation, then you will be required to bring your divorce case to the Family Court where the judge will listen to both sides of the case and review all of the evidence presented and then dictate how your children will be parented, how your belongings will be divided, and how your incomes will be shared. You have lost control at that point. In mediation, you and your spouse remain in control of the outcome of your divorce.Mediators fees are generally divided equally between the spouses in a divorce mediation. In South Carolina, most mediator fees range in the $150-200 per hour range and the rules allow the mediator to charge an hour in addition to the time spent mediating to prepare for the mediation and to prepare a mediation report following mediation.In many cases, divorce mediation is done with the parties in separate rooms and the mediator floats back and forth between the rooms to relay information and offers.I remind my clients that mediation is not an appointment to come to without being ready to make some decisions. Mediation is a negotiation and requires some give and take from both spouses to result in a settled resolution. If you are not ready to make decisions about the outcome of your divorce then this mediation will be very frustrating for both you and your spouse. In order to be ready to make decisions you need to be prepared for mediation. Often times, it feels like mediation is blown off as just one more step that doesn't really matter. Then, in the midst of the mediation while the parties are make some headway towards a resolution there are gaps of information missing that would be helpful in resolving an issue. Having information about values of assets and amounts of debts, income information for both parties, living expenses for yourself, and other relevant information you will be better prepared to reach an agreement that you can live with.
Can I Appeal the Temporary Order
I have written about the importance of temporary hearings in the past on this blog. Getting the case started out right from the beginning is important for your case. However, some times no matter how well you and your lawyer prepare, things don't go so well during at the temporary hearing. Occasionally, it is obvious that bad things are going to happen at a Temporary Hearing. Other times the Court's ruling can come as a surprise. Either way, it is hard to deal with the consequences of some court orders. In Family Court, these orders often deal with subjects that are near and dear to your heart: your children and your money.You may disagree on how the Court ruled on custody for your children or you don't know how you can afford the child support and alimony that the judge ordered you to pay. Perhaps, you don't know how you will live on the support amount you were awarded.So, can you appeal the temporary order?In a word, no. In 2012, the South Carolina Supreme Court answered this question for us in the case of Terry v. Terry (400 S.C. 453). The Court held that these temporary orders in Family Court are just that - temporary. These orders are without prejudice to the rights of the parties and do not decide any issue with finality nor affect a substantial right. Additionally, the family court has the authority to correct any error from the temporary order at the final hearing, Terry v. Terry, 400 S.C. 453, (456-457).
What recourse does one have when a temporary order doesn't go their way?
This ruling seems to indicate that one's redress comes at a final hearing. But, there are some things that can be done in the mean time. It is possible to file a motion requesting the Court to reconsider its ruling. Unless there is clear law on point; however, it will be difficult convincing the Court to modify its order. It is also entirely possible that when the Court reconsiders its ruling that the new ruling could be worse than the original ruling.The next option would be to put the litigation on the fast track. Move as quickly as is prudent and reasonable through the discovery process and any investigation that must be done and get your final hearing scheduled as quickly as possible.