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Petitioning the Courts
Adopted people may file a Petition To Open Sealed Adoption Record to the Court that handled their adoption. The Judge might open the sealed adoption records for the following reasons:
- to obtain medical information
- for good cause other than to obtain medical information
- to establish that the adopted person is a Native American Child, subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978
When TIPS petitions the Court to gain access to the sealed adoption file on medical grounds, we must attach to the petition a medical certification from your physician licensed to practice medicine in the State of your residence, addressing a serious physical or mental illness. Such certification needs to identify the information required to address said illness. This is a must!
Finding the Court of Jurisdiction is the very first step. If you do not the Court that handled your adoption TIPS will help you locate this information. Jurisdiction means the Court who had the right to process your adoption. Figuring out the jurisdiction sometimes can be interesting. Every State has their own law in regards to this issue. Here is an example:
| Jurisdiction for Private Placement Adoptions |
- Adoption can take place in the County where the adoptive parents were certified;
- Adoption can take place where the adoptive parents reside;
- If the adoptive parents live out of state, then the adoption can take place in the County where the child resides.
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| Jurisdiction for Agency Adoptions |
- County where the adoptive parents reside;
- The County where the agency has its principal place of business;
- Parental Rights;
- If a petition to terminate parental rights is pending in a particular County, jurisdiction is that County.
- If parental rights have been terminated, then it can take place in the County where the adoptive parents reside.
- If a Judicial Surrender is pending in a particular County, then the adoption must take place in that County.
- If the adoptive parents do not reside in the same state as your birth, then the adoption can take place in whatever County the agency has its principal place of business.
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TIPS paralegal skills will help you dramatically during this whole process. We will prepare the Petition for you and guide you when filing the Petition with the proper court. Basically, TIPS will take care of everything. You will have to sign, notarize and send the documents to the proper court house. TIPS will even provide you the address to send the documents to.
If the state of your adoption allows for a confidential intermediary, TIPS can petition the state to ask that we be appointed to act as the CI in your adoption case. We never know what a judge will say, but TIPS believes its worth a try.
| Confidential Intermediary |
A court appointed individual acting on behalf of a birth parent, adoptee, adoptive parent. The confidential intermediary (CI) attempts to locate and make contact with the birth family members. A CI acts as a go between for the parties involved. The CI determines the willingness of each member to allow the confidential information that is part of the adoption agreement, to be waived fully or partially. The CI must act with court or legal approval. They have to sign an oath to the court that they will follow the laws.
The approved CI's of most states are NOT private investigators, and they can be very slow when trying to locate that birth family. Many times they will conclude that the birth relative can't be found. Why? Because they are not skilled when it comes to tracking down a birth mother from many years ago whose name might have changed many times through marriage and divorce.
This is why we will ask the court to allow TIPS to act as the CI in your adoption case.
"The only unsolvable adoption search is the one that never begins." ~Cindy Soper
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