Legal In All 50 States...
Chaz reporting:
Yesterday we passed yet another milestone in the adoption process, and perhaps one of the final ones in the whole drama that is the legal paperwork. We completed our "re-adoption", or more correctly the "domestication of foreign adoption decree."
It is little more than a formality; Morgan was legally and finally adopted on May 17, 2005, in Changsha, Hunan, China. This adoption is recognized by law by the state of Florida. But we elected to do the re-adoption after we got back for matters of convenience (Morgan can now be issued a Florida birth certificate, will make all our lives easire), practicality (not all states recognize the foreign adoption as Florida does), and the arcane (odd facets of Social Security laws could affect her ability to get benefits should we both die without the re-adoption).
This process is undertaken by most families with the aid of an attorney; being the independent-minded & curmudgeonly sort that I am, and having recently transferred a large portion of the family fortune to facilitate the adoption, I elected to do it myself. I filed the necessary paperwork last November and was pleased to get a reply from the court within a matter of days. Elation turned sour quickly when I realized it was not a notice of final hearing, but rather a request for more information...more, I should add, than other families that have gone before us have had to supply, and more (in my humble non-legal mind) than the law would seemingly allow or support. To make a long story short, I got some gratis help from a local attorney and argued with the judge's staff, but in the end the judge still wanted the extra paperwork and said he would make it mandatory for all families filing from gere on out. Ouch. Paperwork was filed by the end of February, and we waited for our hearing. The letter finally arrived a few weeks back - the hearing would be April 11.
We all got up early yesterday morning, got cleaned up, and headed downtown to the courthouse. I was a little worried that we might be late as we were cutting our arrival time very close to our 9:30 hearing time. I had visions of being locked out of the courtroom by a judge getting a few minutes' early start. We got there in time, and proceeded to have a seat outside the courtroom with a dozen or so other folks. We waited. And waited. And waited. Morgan was an angel, playing quietly around us and waving to the folks seated near us. We were told most of the rest of the people would be called in first, then we would go near the end because, get this, they would need to clear the courtroom for us. There were people there for all kinds of reasons - divorce, child support, etc. We were the only ones there for an adoption proceeding. Big events in a lot of people's lives, but the staff were very cavalier. I heard them ask one group, "Ok, who's getting the divorce? Which one of you is the witness?" We were referred to as "the adoption folks." Just another morning session in family court.
We were finally called in, the courtroom was cleared of all but the three of us, the judge, and his assistant. Here sat the man who had imposed ridiculous extra requirements on us, the man who took it upon himself to forever alter the processing of domestications of foreign adoptions in Palm Beach County, and it was clear he had no idea what he was doing. He kept referring to our case as an "adoption," even when I gently reminded him the adoption was already finalized LAST YEAR in China and this was a domestication. The one moment of pleasure I got was watching him try to pronounce the Chinese portion of Morgan's name (Qian - pronounced roughly chyen). He took a moment to look through our petition (was this really the first time he had actually read it? or are there just so many cases it was new to him again?), asked us if we were "ready to assume full responsibility for the child, as if she had been born to us" (ummm, yeah, just like we have been doing for almost a year now), then just said "okay" and signed the final decree. That was it. I have heard other families tell of judges who made little ceremonies out of their hearings, included and involved the family, etc...but ours was more like settling a bill with a grocery clerk.
Once finished, we went down to the records and filing division with the judge's assistant to get a bunch of certified copies of the final judgement. The whole thing is so strange, in that Florida still, to this day, treats adoptions like some kind of dirty little secret. The court had to be cleared, whether we cared or not, since it is...shhhhhh...*a secret*. We needed to go immediately after to get copies of the decree because the records were sealed later that day and we would need a court order to get copies in the future. So, we had to get enough to (hopefully) last Morgan's lifetime since, after all, it is....shhhhh....a *secret*.
Well,we have our certified copies of the decree, and there is one last bit of paperwork left to accomplish. We need to fill out two more forms and send them to Tallahassee, or Jacksonville, or somewhere up north, to get an official copy of Morgan's new Florida birth certificate. This will be the very last in a long line of procedures qnd paperwork we have had to endure since Jan 2004 (unless we go to get her a passport...blegghh); I need to have one of the forms somehow signed buy someone at the court...anyone want to take bets on how this last little bit of bureaucracy will be screwed up?
It's been a long (very, very long) and trying road, but as of yesterday Morgan is legally our daughter in all 50 states. Yay! She seemed happier about going to the playground yesterday evening than the whole court hearing business. Smart kid...
Yesterday we passed yet another milestone in the adoption process, and perhaps one of the final ones in the whole drama that is the legal paperwork. We completed our "re-adoption", or more correctly the "domestication of foreign adoption decree."
It is little more than a formality; Morgan was legally and finally adopted on May 17, 2005, in Changsha, Hunan, China. This adoption is recognized by law by the state of Florida. But we elected to do the re-adoption after we got back for matters of convenience (Morgan can now be issued a Florida birth certificate, will make all our lives easire), practicality (not all states recognize the foreign adoption as Florida does), and the arcane (odd facets of Social Security laws could affect her ability to get benefits should we both die without the re-adoption).
This process is undertaken by most families with the aid of an attorney; being the independent-minded & curmudgeonly sort that I am, and having recently transferred a large portion of the family fortune to facilitate the adoption, I elected to do it myself. I filed the necessary paperwork last November and was pleased to get a reply from the court within a matter of days. Elation turned sour quickly when I realized it was not a notice of final hearing, but rather a request for more information...more, I should add, than other families that have gone before us have had to supply, and more (in my humble non-legal mind) than the law would seemingly allow or support. To make a long story short, I got some gratis help from a local attorney and argued with the judge's staff, but in the end the judge still wanted the extra paperwork and said he would make it mandatory for all families filing from gere on out. Ouch. Paperwork was filed by the end of February, and we waited for our hearing. The letter finally arrived a few weeks back - the hearing would be April 11.
We all got up early yesterday morning, got cleaned up, and headed downtown to the courthouse. I was a little worried that we might be late as we were cutting our arrival time very close to our 9:30 hearing time. I had visions of being locked out of the courtroom by a judge getting a few minutes' early start. We got there in time, and proceeded to have a seat outside the courtroom with a dozen or so other folks. We waited. And waited. And waited. Morgan was an angel, playing quietly around us and waving to the folks seated near us. We were told most of the rest of the people would be called in first, then we would go near the end because, get this, they would need to clear the courtroom for us. There were people there for all kinds of reasons - divorce, child support, etc. We were the only ones there for an adoption proceeding. Big events in a lot of people's lives, but the staff were very cavalier. I heard them ask one group, "Ok, who's getting the divorce? Which one of you is the witness?" We were referred to as "the adoption folks." Just another morning session in family court.
We were finally called in, the courtroom was cleared of all but the three of us, the judge, and his assistant. Here sat the man who had imposed ridiculous extra requirements on us, the man who took it upon himself to forever alter the processing of domestications of foreign adoptions in Palm Beach County, and it was clear he had no idea what he was doing. He kept referring to our case as an "adoption," even when I gently reminded him the adoption was already finalized LAST YEAR in China and this was a domestication. The one moment of pleasure I got was watching him try to pronounce the Chinese portion of Morgan's name (Qian - pronounced roughly chyen). He took a moment to look through our petition (was this really the first time he had actually read it? or are there just so many cases it was new to him again?), asked us if we were "ready to assume full responsibility for the child, as if she had been born to us" (ummm, yeah, just like we have been doing for almost a year now), then just said "okay" and signed the final decree. That was it. I have heard other families tell of judges who made little ceremonies out of their hearings, included and involved the family, etc...but ours was more like settling a bill with a grocery clerk.
Once finished, we went down to the records and filing division with the judge's assistant to get a bunch of certified copies of the final judgement. The whole thing is so strange, in that Florida still, to this day, treats adoptions like some kind of dirty little secret. The court had to be cleared, whether we cared or not, since it is...shhhhhh...*a secret*. We needed to go immediately after to get copies of the decree because the records were sealed later that day and we would need a court order to get copies in the future. So, we had to get enough to (hopefully) last Morgan's lifetime since, after all, it is....shhhhh....a *secret*.
Well,we have our certified copies of the decree, and there is one last bit of paperwork left to accomplish. We need to fill out two more forms and send them to Tallahassee, or Jacksonville, or somewhere up north, to get an official copy of Morgan's new Florida birth certificate. This will be the very last in a long line of procedures qnd paperwork we have had to endure since Jan 2004 (unless we go to get her a passport...blegghh); I need to have one of the forms somehow signed buy someone at the court...anyone want to take bets on how this last little bit of bureaucracy will be screwed up?
It's been a long (very, very long) and trying road, but as of yesterday Morgan is legally our daughter in all 50 states. Yay! She seemed happier about going to the playground yesterday evening than the whole court hearing business. Smart kid...
posted by 33458 | 1:00 AM
7 Comments:
Congrats on successfully passing through the hallowed halls of the courthouse! As a Superior Courts of Georgia law clerk, I handle adoptions all the time, including the domestications. Was there a law clerk? We tend to be nice and just hand the judge everything while saying: the paperwork is perfect (if it, in fact, is). Domestications actually tend to be the most complete since the adoption has already happened. In any case - congrats again! :)
Guys congratulations and also my sympathies on the judge being a royal jerk. We will be re-adopting Salome and I am sure we will go through the samething. He should have made a little ceremony out of it. It is a special occassion, what an insensitive moron.
It is behind you, enjoy and celebrate. You guys are wonderful parents and are doing a great job with Mo.
Yoli
Excellent work, Chuck (you'll never be Chaz to me).
The whole process sounds like it has been a huge hurdle, especially when the love comes so easily.
All is well here. Grace is currently obsessed with helicopters so perhaps I should show her Apocalypse Now!
Hey all!
Trin - I'm not sure if law clerk is the correct title, but the judge had a "staff attorney" working with me (two actually, things got shuffled around in the middle of it all) but she told me the judge was the one who asked for everything. The stuff the judge was asking for was pertinent (and legally required) for adoptions, but useless (and possibly illegal?) for domestications.
Yoli - We didn't care so much that there was no ceremony or anything - much nicer was that we were able to enjoy breakfast together before I had to go back to work. There were certainly aspects of both "insensitive" and "moron" at work, though - certainly glad it's over.
Chris - Series of hurdles, more like it. But in the long run it's just another process to be endured. Morgan is obsessed with helicopters too - she has been watching me play Grand Theft Auto Vice City lately. I limit my activities when she is watching to flying a helicopter around collecting weapons - no random violence. Boring. But she loves to watch "me" go "bye-bye" in my helicopter.
Chuck,
The way we do domestications is that we basically have an entire packet for an adoption. There isn't a specific procedure for domestications that I am aware of, so we have a full adoption file. And they are just as confidential as regular adoptions (easier to jump into the Bog of Eternal Stench and coming out smelly rosy than to find out information on adoptions, lol). However, mostly that is just the information that was needed for the real adoption, so it isn't too hard for the parents to put it all together. I would have to look up domestications to see really what differences there are, if any, in the paperwork required for an adoption. Huh. I am intrigued now. Staff attorneys? Fancy. That is a step above law clerk...glorified law clerk instead of glorified gopher. ;)
In any instance - congrats again! It is over and done with and you guys have moved on to important things like play-time at the gym! :)
(Trish here)
I think what offended my husband so much was the suggestion of 'baby selling' - if I recall correctly, that was an exact quote when given the justification. He was adamant about seeing our financial history with concern to the fees paid out during the transaction, as if he could either approve or deny the cost as valid almost one year after the fact?
Also, that the officials we dealt with kept addressing this domestication as an adoption, as if we were just now adopting her...like they themselves did not recognize that we were already legal in the state of Florida. It honestly appeared as though these folks did not have any idea exactly what sort of task they were undertaking.
Perhaps just a bad choice of words on their part (over and over again) but a tad insulting after the years-long trial of miscarriage, infertility and then a lengthy, frustrating paperchase leading up to the adoption.
Wow - we never ask for the financial papers on a domestication. We are provided, essentially, the Chinese agency's home study...but not the financial stuff. If it satisfied the adoption agency, that is none of our business at this point. We just need to know the process of adoption happened, so we do get a fairly large packet from the agency. Now I see why it was so upsetting. Some people just have no tact.
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