Adopting a child can be the greatest moment in a child’s and parent’s lives. However, adoption law is not simple, and a person should consider several issues before placing a child for adoption or before adopting a child. Qualified Seattle adoption attorneys are a good place to start for advice you will need to make such an important decision.

For information on mandatory standardized forms for adoption actions, please see family law Seattle adoption information.

There are several different ways to adopt a child. For example, there are domestic adoptions, overseas adoptions, step-parent adoptions with the biological parent’s consent, and step-parent adoptions without such consent. Depending on what kind of adoption, the legal requirements and processes vary greatly. In most cases, the state will be conduct an evaluation of your private life, your history, and perform pre-placement and post-placement investigations. The Seattle Adoption Attorneys at McKinley Irvin can advise you on the law generally and on the evaluation process specifically.

Before a child may be adopted, his non-custodial biological parent(s) must relinquish her parental rights or have those rights taken away through court action. A person’s right to parent her child is a constitutionally protected fundamental right and is therefore hard to overcome involuntarily. For example, sometimes a custodial parent remarries after a divorce and wants the new step-parent to adopt a child from her previous relationship. In many cases, the non-custodial biological parent agrees to the adoption. However, without an agreement, having that person’s parental rights extinguished by a court can be a very stressful and emotional procedure. Seattle Adoption Attorneys with extensive experience in such actions should be consulted before undergoing such an adoption in order to know if the intangible (and tangible) costs are worth the process.

Furthermore, the adoptive and former parents may enter a binding agreeing which allows continuing contact between the child and the former parents under Washington State family law. However, such an agreement involves quite complex legal issues, and should be entered into with the help of Seattle adoption attorneys.

Washington State adoption laws in were designed to protect the rights of both the biological and adoptive parents, and most importantly, the child’s rights. Navigating these laws alone could be vexing, and qualified Seattle Adoption Attorneys should be consulted prior to any adoption action. At McKinley Irvin, we have several very good Seattle adoption attorneys to serve you.

Seattle Adoption Attorneys at McKinley Irvin

A good place to start for Washington State family law on adoption may be found here: Chapter 26.33 RCW: Adoption However, contact the Seattle adoption attorneys at McKinley Irvin for more detailed information. Our Seattle adoption attorneys have extensive experience in all sorts of adoption actions and other Washington State family law actions.