Indiana Supreme Court Date Published Case Lower Court Case Number Appellate Court Case Number 08/15/14 In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: D.D. (Minor Child) and B.T. (Mother) and D.D. (Father) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (NFP) 49D09-1305-JT-16005 49A02-1312-JT-1027 08/14/14 In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship […]
Tag Archives | adoption law
Difference between "abandonment" and "failure to communicate" under Indiana Code § 31-19-9-8
Indiana adoption law starts from the premise that in order for a child to be adopted, the child’s mother and the child’s legal father1 must consent to the adoption. Certain actions or non-actions by a mother or legal father may vitiate the need for the parent to consent to the adoption. Indiana Code § 31-19-9-8 […]
When a Consent to Adoption is not Required under Indiana Law
Indiana law requires that in order for a petition for adoption to be granted for a child who less than eighteen (18) years old consent to the adoption must be given. Whose consent is required is a topic for another blog post. For now, we are going to focus on when a consent to adoption […]
February 10, 2015 – New Jersey Senate Passes Bill Expanding Definition of Surrogate Parenting
TRENTON – The New Jersey state senate passed a bill on February 5th that would allow intended parents to enter into an agreement with a “gestational carrier” to bear their child. A gestational carrier is a woman who has no genetic relation to the child she carries. This is different from a traditional surrogate who […]
Adoption Legislation – Senate Bill 27 (Indiana 2014 Legislative Session)
By: Steven M. Kirsh The Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Bill 27 during the 2014 Legislative Session. Governor Pence signed the bill into law. SB 27 makes improvements to Indiana’s already very good adoption laws. In fact, other states have modeled some of their adoption laws after those of Indiana. Here is what SB 27 […]
Adoptions In Lake County, Indiana
Written By: Steven Kirsh, Adoption Attorney On March 12, 2014, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of In Re the Adoption of J.T.D. & J.S., 45A03-1308-AD-310 (Ind.App 2014) and held that the Juvenile Court of Lake County did not have jurisdiction to grant an adoption — only the Superior Courts in the Civil […]
Internet Adoption Advertising — Beware
Prospective adoptive parents and expectant mothers are sometimes tempted to use the internet to create an adoption plans for children (put their “baby up for adoption”). The Indiana Code and the cases interpreting those statutes specify the procedures and requirements which must be followed in order adopt a child. Failure to precisely follow the statutory […]
DCS Adoptions: Picking the Right Attorney
In a recent DCS Adoption, in which I represented the guardian ad litem, I witnessed something that was very disheartening… the attorney representing the adoptive parents was not present for a meeting in which everyone else was present. I found out that this was no mistake, the attorney openly told their clients that they would […]
How Do I Put My Baby Up for Adoption?
To “put my baby up for adoption” means first and foremost, you love your baby. Women do not “give up my baby for adoption” and frankly they do not “put my baby up for adoption.” What they do is love their baby and want for their baby a life they know, at this moment in […]
Adoption Tax Credit Permanently Extended!
Today, the President will sign H.R. 8, “American Tax Payer Relief Act of 2012”, which will make the Adoption Tax Credit, first enacted as part of the “Bush Tax Cuts”, permanent. In 2013, families earning less than $194,580 can claim a tax credit of up to $12,970. Some portion of the credit is available for […]
