Kansas City Adoption Lawyers | Family Law Attorney

The following information is general in nature and should not be construed as legal advice.

-Petition for Adoption - To formally ask the judge to allow you to adopt the child.

-Consent to Adoption - The consent of parent or the State, in lieu of the parent, is usually required.

-Home Study - To show the judge that you are suitable parents.

-Financial Statement - To prove that no money was paid, especially to birth parents, other than for bona fide expenses.

-Genetic & Medical History - To show the Court that you are aware of any medical or psychological challenges.

Under Kansas law, the final hearing on your Petition must be held within 30-60 days after your Petition is filed. It’s usually held about 45 days after the date of filing.

In Missouri, if the child is coming to your home for the first time, you will attend two hearings. At the first hearing, you will be awarded “temporary” custody of the child. Missouri law requires that you have custody of the child for six months before an adoption may be finalized. After you have had custody for six months, you will return to court for your final hearing. At that time, the adoption is finalized.

What happens from the time we file the Petition until we go to court for the final hearing?

A social worker will visit your home to interview you about the placement. A report will be filed with the court.

A suit, dress or nice casual clothing. Bring a camera for a picture on this very special day!

You will be asked approximately 15-20 questions that you may answer with either yes or no. Adoption proceedings are very informal, so you will probably testify from a table, rather than the witness stand.

A report of adoption will be sent to Topeka or Jefferson City and a birth certificate will be sent to your attorney’s office within about 45-60 days. Once you review and sign the birth certificate, we will send it to Topeka or Jefferson City for filing. A copy will be provided to you.

Once you have the Decree and birth certificate, you should take them both to the Social Security office nearest you. A complete listing is available in the blue pages of the telephone directory.

It is possible to get a social security number even before your adoption is finalized.

A child 18 years or older may enlist the assistance of the state to help them find their natural parents. The same is true in Missouri, except that the consent of the adoptive parents is required.

In the Kansas City area, the law regarding adoptions and birth certificates is similar on both sides of the state line, but the procedure varies.

In Missouri, a Certificate of Decree of Adoption form is filed along with the other paperwork at the start of your case. When the adoption is complete, the judge signs the form and the clerk forwards it to Jefferson City for processing, which takes a few months.

In Kansas, a Report of Adoption form is submitted to the judge along with the Decree of Adoption at the hearing to finalize your adoption. It is forwarded to Topeka for processing. In approximately 30-45 days, you will receive a proof to review, sign and return. The final birth certificate will be mailed to you shortly thereafter.

The new birth certificate will replace any birth certificate previously issued for the child.

A caveat: The new birth certificate must be issued by the state in which the child was born. Thus, if you adopted a child born in Ohio in Kansas, Ohio will issue the new birth certificate. The state of Kansas will forward the Report of Adoption to Ohio for processing. This extra step will delay your receipt of the new birth certificate.

In the Kansas City area, adoption law concerning birth parents differs between Kansas and Missouri. One key difference is the amount of time that must pass before a birth parent can sign paperwork consenting to an adoption. In Kansas, a birth must wait at least 12 hours before signing, while in Missouri the waiting period in 48 hours.

I’m regularly asked whether a biological parent has an automatic right to withdraw his or her consent if done so within a certain amount of time. Although this may be true in other states, Kansas does not provide such a right and the opportunity in Missouri in very limited. In Missouri, a written consent to adoption is final and irrevocable when accepted and approved by a judge. Of course, sometimes a few days will pass from the time a birth parent signs the consent and when it is presented to a judge. During this time period, the birth parent can unconditionally withdraw his or her consent. However, once approved by a judge, it is irrevocable. After that, a birth parent has one year to challenge it, but only on the grounds that it was signed due to fraud, mental impairment, inducement or similar reasons which prove that the consent was not given voluntarily. This is generally very difficult to do.

A judge’s approval of the consent of a biological parent to adoption is not required in Kansas. The consent is effective immediately and may be revoked only if the biological parent can show it was not given voluntarily. The grounds for requesting revocation of a written consent are similar to those in Missouri. Such an action must be brought before the entry of the final decree of adoption, which is generally within 30-60 days after the date the case is filed.

A Missouri birth parent might have to go to court to have his or her consent approved. Whether a court appearance is required depends upon the county where the adoption case is filed.

A consent form is used only in a private adoption. In an agency adoption (where a licensed adoption agency is authorized to accept the custody and control of a child from a biological parent, which is allowed only in Kansas), a form called a relinquishment is used. The relinquishment is a two part transaction. After the biological signs the relinquishment form, a representative of the agency must also sign indicating its acceptance of the custody of the child. There is case law that indicates that a birth parent could revoke the relinquishment prior to the agency execution of the written acceptance. Most agencies sign the acceptance contemporaneously with the execution of the relinquishment or shortly thereafter.

In Kansas City area adoptions, birth parents sometimes report some Native American ancestry. A federal law, The Indian Child Welfare Act (“ICWA”), must be considered in every adoption of an American born child. ICWA applies when the child to be adopted is an “Indian child”. An Indian child is one who is either (1) a member of an Indian tribe or (2) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and the child of a member. Each tribe has its own criteria to determine whether a child is a member or eligible to be a member.

If either biological parent reports Native American ancestry, your attorney or adoption agency will send a letter to the tribe asking whether the child to be adopted is an Indian child. Most of the time, the answer will be no. If the answer if yes, the ICWA rules apply. They are too complicated to address here, but include special protections for a birth parent who wants to consent to the adoption of an Indian child. The consent cannot be given until ten days after the child is born, must be given before a judge and may be revoked before the adoption is final. ICWA also provides for notice to the applicable Indian tribe in involuntary termination cases, certain placement preferences and the right of the tribe to intervene in the adoption.

There is a federal tax credit for certain adoption related expenses. The credit may even apply to failed domestic adoptions. In 2011, the credit is $13,360. The Tax Relief Act signed into law by President Obama on December 17, 2010 extends the federal adoption tax credit through the end of 2010. The credit in 2012 is $12,170.

The amount of the credit is reduced if household income exceeds a certain amount and is eliminated altogether when income exceeds the maximum amount. In 2011, if your "modified adjusted gross income" is more than $225,210, you are not eligible for the credit. If your modified adjusted gross income is less than $185,210, you are fully eligible for the credit. Taxpayers whose incomes fall between those two amounts may claim the credit on a reduced bases. The IRS publishes circulars that set the parameters for the credit each tax year. The credit may be “carried forward” for up to five years.

The federal tax credit is available both for domestic adoptions and for the adoption of a non-citizen child when the adoption is completed.

If you adopt a special needs child, you will receive the full amount of the credit, regardless of how much you spent on the adoption.

Use IRS Form 8839 to claim the federal credit. If you won’t have a social security number in time to claim the child on your tax return, you may be able to obtain an Adoption Tax Identification Number by filing the appropriate form with the IRS (W-7 or W-7A).

In the Kansas City area, the law for state adoption tax credits varies between Missouri and Kansas. Under Kansas law, the credit is available for any adoption that qualifies for the federal credit. An additional credit is available is the adoption of a special needs child or a child in the custody of SRS. Use Form K-47 to claim the state adoption tax credit.

Under Missouri adoption law, the state adoption tax credit is limited to adoptions of special needs children. The credit is claimed on Form ATC. State residency is required in both Missouri and Kansas to claim the state tax credit.

At or shortly after your final adoption hearing, you should receive a certified copy of your Decree of Adoption. The Decree will change your child’s name to the name you have chosen. In a few weeks (or months, depending on your state of residence), you will receive a birth certificate. Take the certified copy of your Decree of Adoption along with your child’s new birth certificate to the social security office nearest you.

If you want or need to file your income taxes before you have your child’s permanent social security number, you may obtain a provisional number by completing Internal Revenue Service Form W-7-A.

Because Kansas City straddles the state line between Kansas and Missouri, some adoptions involve a law called the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. If the child to be adopted will move from the child’s state of birth to another state as part of the adoption, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children may be implicated. For example, if adoptive parents live in Missouri, but the adoption will take place in Kansas, you must comply with the “ICPC”.

To initiate the process, the ICPC “100A” form is sent from the child’s state of birth (the “sending state”) to the “receiving state” (where the adoption will be finalized). A variety of court documents and other forms must accompany the 100A Each state has its own list of the documents required and it is often important to include the items on both lists.

You should plan on spending up to several days (or more) in the sending state while you wait for ICPC approval. Make sure that your attorney is experienced with the ICPC. It's an easy part of adoption law if you provide the persons who administer the state's compact what they want. However, if the packet provided is incomplete, you will be waiting an unnecessarily long time.

Compliance with the ICPC is critical. Both Missouri and Kansas have court cases stating that failure to comply provides a basis for a consenting birth parent to withdraw his or her consent to the adoption.

Missouri and Kansas adoption laws take different approaches to readoption and recognition of foreign adoptions. Kansas adoption law is generally much more streamlined when compared to Missouri adoption law on recognition of foreign adoptions.

Whether you need to “re-adopt” when you return with your child to Missouri depends upon the child’s immigration status. If both parents had personal contact with the child before the foreign adoption was finalized, your child will enter the U.S. on an IR3 Visa and no further legal proceedings are necessary. You will file a simple form available from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to obtain a birth certificate issued by the state of Missouri.

If your foreign adoption was finalized without both adoptive parents having first seen the child, your child will enter the U.S. on an IR4 Visa. Although you can still obtain a Missouri birth certificate using the same form mentioned above, you will have to file a petition in Missouri for the recognition of the foreign adoption in order to get citizenship. Also, the IRS has said that a family cannot take the federal tax credit for a child until such a child is “re-adopted” in his or her home state, so it’s important to get the Missouri procedure completed as soon as possible.

The filing fee is about $250. Attorney’s fees will vary depending upon whether a court appearance is required. The need for a court appearance varies depending upon the Missouri county where the petition is filed.

Kansas adoption law on foreign adoptions can make the process "do it yourself". In Kansas, certified copies of the foreign adoption documents are filed with the clerk of the court in your county and Kansas automatically recognizes the foreign adoption. However, no court order or decree is issued. You may change your child’s name by filling out a special form for this purpose. In Johnson County, Kansas, the court trustee can provide you with this form. You may then request an adoption certificate from the vital records office in Topeka. You can do all of this without hiring an attorney.

A warning: If the child entered the country on an IR4 visa, this procedure may or may not work. The USCIS (formerly the INS) can waive the re-adoption requirement when a state has a law (like that in Kansas) automatically recognizing foreign adoptions. However, it appears that the USCIS will sometimes demand an order or decree of re-adoption or recognition of the foreign adoption before issuing a citizenship certificate. The best practice for citizenship purposes is to file a re-adoption case and request a decree/order of re-adoption. The re-adoption might also protect inheritance rights. Any name change is done as part of the re-adoption case. The total cost is about $500, including the filing fee.

You might be matched in your adoption with a birth mother who lives outside of the Kansas City metropolitan area, in a state other than Kansas or Missouri. Adoption law in Kansas and Missouri allows you to finalize your adoption case in the state where you live provided that this is not prohibited by adoption law in the state where the birth mother resides.

Under Kansas adoption law, the birth mother may sign Kansas paperwork consenting to the adoption or comparable paperwork normally used in her home state. The parental rights of the birth mother (and birth father) would be terminated by the Kansas final decree of adoption. Alternatively, adoption law in some states allows the parental rights of the biological parents to be terminated there. Those documents would be filed as part of your Kansas adoption.

Under Missouri adoption law, although the statute does not expressly allow use of out of state documents, it can be done. However, because Missouri adoptions take so much longer than Kansas adoptions (over 6 months as compared with 30 to 60 days), adopting parents sometimes choose to finalize their adoption in the home state of the biological mother.

For a variety of reasons, more and more grandparents are raising their grandchildren. It is also becoming more commonplace for grandparents to create a new family by adopting their grandchildren. If the biological parents of the child will consent to the adoption or if their parental rights have been previously terminated, the adoption could be finalized fairly quickly.

If a child’s biological parent will not consent to the adoption, you will file a petition asking the Court to terminate his or her parental rights. Generally, the petition alleges that the biological parent has not provided the child with financial support or shown the child love and affection. When appropriate, the petition may also allege that the biological parent is unfit due to substance abuse, physical or sexual abuse of the child and similar problems.

Under Kansas adoption law, if the mother or the father of the child cannot be found or if the father is also unknown, a lawyer will be appointed to represent his or her interests. In general, this lawyer will attempt to locate the missing biological parent and make a report of the results of the search to the Court. My office would also hire a private investigator to attempt to locate a missing biological parent. If the parent cannot be found, he or she will receive notice of the adoption by publication in a newspaper devoted to legal notices.

Also under Kansas adoption law, a home study may not be necessary in a grandparent adoption. A home study is written report about you and your home prepared by a social worker that can cost from several hundred dollars to a thousand dollars or more. Under Kansas adoption law, you can file a motion to ask the Court to waive the requirement of the home study.

Under Missouri adoption law, a lawyer is not appointed to represent the interests of an unknown or missing parent. Also, the court does not have the discretion to waive the requirement of a home study.

A private adoption (or independent adoption) is one where the “match” between adoptive parent(s) and birth parent(s) is made without the assistance of an adoption agency. For example, a coworker has introduced you to a friend whose daughter is pregnant and the young woman selects you as her adoptive family. My firm can help you with a private adoption. As with all adoptions in the Kansas City area, adoption law regarding private adoptions varies slightly depending on whether you live in Missouri or Kansas.

One of the first steps we take is finding an attorney to represent the birth parent(s) of the child. This attorney will advise the birth parent(s) about the adoption process and the legal effect of the paperwork they will be asked to sign. No sooner than twelve hours after the child is born (in Kansas; in Missouri, the time period is forty-eight hours), the birth parent will sign a consent to adoption. On your behalf, my office will prepare and file a petition for adoption, along with the consent signed by the birth parent.

If the adoption occurs in Kansas, I will obtain an order of temporary custody and deliver it to the hospital where the child was born, allowing you to leave the hospital with the child. By law, the adoption must be finalized from 30 to 60 days after the case is filed. Generally, you go to court just once, to finalize the adoption.

In Missouri, the law requires that adoptive parents have custody of a child for at least 6 months before the adoption may be finalized. A court appearance is required to obtain temporary custody. At this court appearance, the judge will review your home study and listen to your answers to the questions I ask you about how your match was made, your commitment to child, etc. After 6 months have passed, we will return to court to finalize the adoption.

When a single parent remarries, a new family is made. Sometimes the step-parent will want to adopt the child of his or her spouse. A step-parent adoption creates a new parent-child relationship and irrevocably terminates the parental rights of the non-spouse biological parent. In the Kansas City area, adoption law regarding step-parent adoptions varies depending upon whether you live Kansas or Missouri.

Regardless of where you live, if the child’s other biological parent will sign a written consent to the step-parent adoption, the case could be finalized fairly quickly. A home study, a written report about you and your home prepared by a social worker, is not required in Kansas. In Missouri, if the non-spouse biological parent consents to the adoption, the requirement of a home study may be waived by the court. A motion is filed with the court to make this request.

Even if the other biological parent opposes the adoption, his or her parental rights can be terminated involuntarily. In Kansas, the step-parent adoption cases provide a two-sided “ledger” evaluation of whether the parental rights of a non-consenting biological parent should be terminated. On one side of the ledger is support, on the other side love and affection. A parent must fail both tests. In Missouri, the parental rights of a non-consenting biological parent may be terminated if he or she has [abandoned] the child for a continuous period of six months immediately preceding the date the adoption petition was filed.

If you don’t know where the other biological parent is, a private investigator will be hired to attempt to locate them. If they can’t be located, notice to them of the adoption will be published in a legal notices newspaper. Also, in Kansas, an attorney will be appointed to represent their interests. In general, this attorney will attempt to locate the missing parent and make a report to the court of his efforts and results.

Kansas City area adoptive families can take advantage of a special Kansas adoption law that permits agency adoptions. An “agency adoption” is one where an agency (rather than a biological parent) has the authority to consent to adoption. It works like this: Birth parent(s) execute a document called a relinquishment of minor child to agency, which immediately transfers their parental rights to the adoption agency. The agency can then discharge the child from the hospital and place him or her with you. No court order of temporary custody is needed, which results in savings of time and money for you. An agency representative will later sign a written consent to the adoption. There is no counterpart to agency adoptions in Missouri.

My firm can help you finalize your agency adoption. To ask questions or to schedule an appointment, call (913) 671-8008 or write kwklawfirm@aol.com.

There are many excellent adoption agencies and social workers in the Kansas City area. Some of them are listed here:

Kansas City adoption law changes when the Kansas or Missouri Court of Appeals or Supreme Court issues a new decision about adoption law.

Recently the Kansas Supreme Court drastically changed the Kansas adoption law regarding step-parent adoptions in Kansas. In the Matter of the Application to Adopt K.M.D. and K.N.E. dispenses with the “two column ledger approach”, Kansas law on step-parent adoptions for many years. The Kansas Supreme Court has adopted a “totality of the circumstances” analysis as Kansas law on step-parent adoptions.

Under the two column ledger approach the parental rights of a contesting birth father in a step-parent adoption could be terminated only if he had failed on the both the “love and affection” column on one side of the ledger and the support provided to the child on the other side of the ledger. In the Matter of the Application to Adopt K.M.D. and K.N.E changes Kansas adoption law replacing this comparatively stricter approach with more flexible totality of the test. Under the revised Kansas law for step-parent adoption, it appears a judge will have more discretion to terminate the birth parents parental rights if so inclined.

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On July 8, 2011, the Kansas Court of Appeals released Baby Girl B. The case is another decision on Kansas adoption law that is favorable to the preservation of parental rights of birth fathers, reversing the decision of the District Court of Leavenworth County and removing an approximately an 18 month child from the custody of the adopting family. The holdings of Baby Girl B. apply not only to the specific factual situation of the case but more broadly to all Kansas adoption cases where termination of the parental rights of the birth father is an issue.

In Baby Girl B., birth mother told the birth father that she thought she might be pregnant in June or July, 2009. Mother and father remained in contact over the next several months but did not talk about the possible pregnancy. Mother claimed that in December, 2009, she told father she was definitely pregnant. Father testified that she again said she might be pregnant.

A blood test on January 13, 2010 confirmed the pregnancy. On February 3, 2010, baby was born. The birth mother relinquished to a Kansas adoption agency. The birth father refused to relinquish and trial was held on the adoptive family’s request to terminate his parental rights. The District Court terminated father’s rights for (i) his failure to support mother during the last six months of her pregnancy, (ii) because he had abandoned birth mother and (iii) because termination of his rights was in the best interests of the child.

The District Court relied heavily on birth father’s failure to try to learn whether mother was in fact pregnant. The court found as follows:

“What steps did [Curtis] avail himself of to determine whether [Racheal] was pregnant? Armed with the information [Racheal] might possibly be pregnant. [Curtis] with the chance to possibly verify for himself the pregnancy during his stay in Leavenworth from December 24-28, 2009, did nothing ….[Curtis] did not make the effort to find out, but simply sat back and said get a pregnancy test…[Curtis] did not avail himself of any of the opportunities to discover whether [Racheal] was pregnant and consequently his opportunity to assist [Racheal] with her pregnancy…[T]he Petitioners have proven by clear and convincing evidence that there is no reasonable cause for…[Curtis’] failure to avail himself of his opportunities to discover or verify the pregnancy.”

The Court of Appeals disagreed, finding that the District Court judge had improperly inserted the word “possible” into the statute that authorized termination of a birth father’s parental rights when “after having knowledge of the pregnancy, [he] failed without reasonable cause to provide support for the birth mother during the six months prior to the child’s birth”. The Court of Appeals also found that the District Court had improperly imposed upon the birth father a duty to investigate whether mother was actually pregnant. As noted above, the District Court had terminated the birth father’s rights on another ground, abandonment of the birth mother, but the Court of Appeals reversed on this ground as well. The Court of Appeals noted that it was mother, not father, who had terminated their relationship.

The Court of Appeals also noted the Kansas parental preference doctrine. Under this doctrine, a natural parent is presumed to be the best custodian for his or her child unless there is evidence of parental unfitness. This comment is significant because it appears to depart from previous Court of Appeals decisions on Kansas adoption law stating that the parental preference doctrine did not apply in adoption cases. Application of the doctrine in adoption cases seems to make it easier for contesting birth fathers to prevail.

Appellate court decisions will sometimes contain a concurring opinion. The judge who writes the concurring opinion offers additional reasons in support of the main opinion. In Baby Girl B., the concurring opinion offers a different analysis of the statute authorizing termination of a birth father’s parental rights for non-support of the birth mother during the last six months of her pregnancy. Specifically, the opinion explored whether a father’s rights could be terminated for non-support during anything less than during the full last six months of the mother’s pregnancy. The author commented “I am not saying that K.S.A. 2009 Supp. 59-2136(h)(1)(D) is unconstitutional. Certain arbitrary time frames need to be drawn by the legislature in order to test parental fitness. Normally, 6 months is a sufficient amount of time for a father to act responsibly and provide support for the mother prior to the child’s birth. And it possibly would not offend my sense of justice to terminate a father’s parental rights if the evidence showed that he failed without reasonable cause to provide support for the mother after learning about the pregnancy 5 months, or even 4 months, prior to the child’s birth. Each case must be judged on its own facts. But as the date the father gains knowledge of the pregnancy gets closer and closer to the child’s birth, the sufficiency of the evidence to terminate his parental rights on this ground becomes less and less convincing.” I expect that this passage will be quoted in future decisions addressing this aspect of Kansas adoption law.

Baby Girl B. is consistent with recent decisions on contested adoptions from the Kansas Court of Appeals and the Kansas Supreme Court on Kansas adoption law. For the time being, these courts appear to be more protective of birth father rights. Unless the law and/or venue are favorable it seems it is best to take a conservative approach with contesting birth fathers.

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On October 29, 2010, the Kansas Supreme Court decided Baby Girl P. The case appears to drastically change what we thought we knew about Kansas adoption law on termination of birth father parental rights. Baby Girl P. makes three major changes:

-It reduces the amount of support required from birth fathers, at least post-birth

-Mere offers of support from birth fathers may suffice (instead of actual support).

-The parental preference doctrine applies in adoptions, which appears to establish almost a presumption that rights should remain intact absent very compelling evidence

The case seems to deviate substantially from appellate court precedent we have all relied on for years. For example:

As background, Baby Girl P. was the product of an extramarital affair that lasted three to four months. During this time period, birth father met birth mother’s family members, went to church with them, knew where she lived and worked actually double dated with a friend of hers from work and a friend of his.

When she and her husband began discussing reconciliation, mother ended the relationship with birth father. Father claimed that a few weeks later, from out of blue, he received a text message from mother that she had miscarried. He did nothing to confirm whether or not the statement was true. The text message was allegedly sent in early March; Baby Girl P. was born in June, 2008.

Mother told the adoption agency that she did not know where father could be found and provided his first and last name, but added the suffix “son” to his surname. Petitioners located father in August with the help of a private investigator, who informed father of the birth of the child. Father retained an attorney, who filed a motion for visitation in the adoption case. The motion was denied due to lack of statutory authority in the adoption code for visitation.

Litigation continued until early January, 2009. From the time he learned of the child’s birth until the end of litigation, father had two visits with Baby Girl P. at the adoption agency. The sole items provided for her support were Christmas cards and some inexpensive gifts delivered at the second visit around Christmas. Also, in September, he delivered a letter to the agency offering support. No money or gifts were enclosed with the letter.

The district court judge terminated father’s rights for failing to support Baby Girl P. after she was born. The district court judge also found it significant that father had not investigated the truth of mother’s alleged text message and consequently lost his opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to parenting sooner. Father appealed, but the Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed the decision.

The termination of father’s rights by the district court (and affirmation by the Court of Appeals) seemed to be warranted under existing law for the following reasons:

-Father had made only an offer of support, by letter dropped off at adoption agency.

Father filed a petition for review by the Kansas Supreme Court, which was granted. However, because of existing law, it was hoped that the Supreme Court would affirm. Those rules were as follows:

-A father must part with some of his income or something of value to provide financial support.

-If there are problems in getting support to the mother or the child, he must be creative, e.g,, by opening a bank or college account.

The Supreme Court reversed both the Court of Appeals and the District Court and overturned the adoption. At the time of the decision, the child was nearly two and one-half years old.

The Court found that father had made offers of support and characterized his Christmas-time visit gifts as more than incidental. Offers of support have been rejected as relevant by previous case law. Further, in view of previous cases, the few items father provided to Baby Girl P. would not have been sufficient to preserve his parental rights. A legislative proposal to address such issues has been discussed.

The Court’s application of the parental preference doctrine was the focus of a motion for reconsideration filed by the adopting family. The motion noted that previous case law had held that the doctrine did not apply in adoption cases because the adoption code sufficiently protected a birth father’s constitutional rights. Now, the parental preference doctrine appears to give fathers a leg up in adoptions. Quoting from the motion: “From the enactment of the Kansas Adoption and Relinquishment Act, Kansas courts have carefully interpreted the Act to provide biological fathers every opportunity to preserve the parent-child relationship. His parental rights are his to lose, but only by serious shortcomings. Thus, applying the parental preference doctrine in adoptions goes one step too far, by tilting the analysis in favor of the biological father.“ The motion for reconsideration was denied.

Post-Baby Girl P., it seems likely that adoption attorneys, agencies and social workers may be reluctant to take a wait and see approach with a birth father whose intentions are unknown. In other words, it may be risky to rely upon his failure to provide support as a basis for termination of his parental rights. If he makes an offer of support or provides only an incidental amount, he may have a defense to a termination of parental rights action.

Recently, the Missouri Supreme Court decided In Re The Adoption of C.M.B.R., a decision which made the front page of the Kansas City Star. The biological mother of the child was an illegal immigrant, incarcerated when the child was seven months old after a raid on the poultry processing plant where she worked. She was later sentenced to two years in prison for identify theft, after which time she was to be deported. At the time the decision was issued on January 25, 2011, the child was over four years old.

Because the adopting parents didn't have the home study and post-placement reports required by Chapter 453 (the adoption code), the case was remanded back to the trial court. Failure to have the right type of home study was a big enough error to warrant reversal of the trial court's decision to terminate mother's rights. On remand (retrial), the court must consider the correct type of home study and then whether there's enough evidence to terminate mother's rights for abandonment and neglect.

In addition to grounds for termination under Chapter 453 (the adoption code), the adopting parents alleged grounds under Chapter 211 (the juvenile code). The Supreme Court held that when Chapter 211 grounds are alleged, the juvenile officer must be joined as a party and participate in the case.

Much of C.M.B.R. does not appear to have much general applicability beyond the specific facts of the case. Mother will probably lose on remand because the Supreme Court found that the evidence presented the first time around was sufficient to terminate her rights. Once the home study issue is cleaned up, the adopting parents will re-present their original evidence. However, it does appear that when allegations under Chapter 211 are contained within an adoption petition, the juvenile officer will be joined as a party to the case.

An older Missouri adoption law case, In Re Adoption of N.L.B.M.T. and S.T.,v. Lentz, involves the Missouri Putative Father Registry, enacted in 1988 at R.S.Mo. §192.016. The Putative Father Registry allows a man who believes he has fathered a child to put others on notice of his possible paternity of the child, thereby preserving his opportunity to assert his parental rights. Putative fathers use form VS-421 to register with the Registry; the form must be filed within fifteen (15) days of the child’s birth. Attorneys and other adoption professionals use the Request for Search of Putative Father Registry. There is a section at the bottom of the form for someone at the registry to indicate whether their records reflect a putative father. This processed form is then returned to the requesting attorney or adoption professional.

A Missouri statute states that an adoption may proceed without a putative father’s consent if he fails to timely file with Putative Father Registry. R.S.Mo.§453.030.3 provides that if a father does not file a notice of intent to claim paternity or an acknowledgment of paternity with the Putative Father Registry and file a paternity case within fifteen days of the child’s birth, his consent to the adoption is unnecessary.

With that background, we turn to what happened in Lentz. The birth father in Lentz was present at the hospital for the birth of the child on December 12, 2004. In fact, he participated in the child’s birth and stayed at the hospital until both mother and child were released. After release, he and mother placed the child in foster care for purposes of adoption. Subsequently, they jointly executed a reconsideration of their adoption plan. Birth father paid $300 for his one-half of the foster care costs.

The birth parents later renewed their adoption plan, placing the baby in the home of a Kansas City area couple. Father returned to his home in Columbia, Missouri. An adoption petition was filed by yet another couple and mother consented to the adoption. Although the adoption petition stated that father was “unknown”, because he and mother had remained in contact, birth father was aware of the adoption action. On March 2, 2005 father filed with the Missouri Putative Father Registry.

At trial, the evidence focused on birth father’s failure to register with the Putative Father Registry. Birth father’s rights were terminated because his consent to the adoption was deemed unnecessary due to not registering.

The Missouri Supreme Court found that even though father’s consent may have been unnecessary, he still had a right to present evidence as to his fitness as a parent. The Court also said the best interests of the child should be considered. This decision seems to remove the failure to file with the Putative Father Registry as a basis for termination of parental rights in Missouri adoptions.

The Lentz decision may be somewhat fact based. Unlike some birth fathers, the birth father in Lentz was involved and supportive. In fact, the Supreme Court even seemed to acknowledge that the decision would be applicable in no more than just a few cases. However, Lentz is the law in Missouri for now. We will need to wait for legislative action or another Missouri Supreme Court case to change it.

Missouri and Kansas adoption law concerning payment of living expenses to birth parents has one over-arching concern: The expenses paid must be reasonably related to the pregnancy and/or adoption. Expenses paid usually consist of medical bills, rent, utilities, food, sundries and clothing. However, depending upon the circumstances of the birth parent, the type of expenses paid will vary. For example, some birth parents require assistance with transportation and the adopting family will pay for cab fare or a gas card.

Under Kansas adoption law, payment of living expenses is governed by Kansas statute 59-2121 which limits payments to “reasonable living expenses of the mother which are incurred during or as a result of the pregnancy”.

Under Missouri adoption law, living expense payments are governed by Missouri statute 453.075. Expenses paid must be “in connection with the placement or adoption”. Jackson County has a special administrative order that limits adoption expenses to $600 per month for three months without permission from the judge to exceed these maximums.

Living expense payments are nearly always made directly to the third party such as a landlord or utility provider. Assistance with food and gasoline is provided through gift cards. Normally, the adoptive family’s attorney pays these expenses so that an accurate accounting of all money paid may be submitted to the court. Rarely is cash given directly to the birth parent.

Missouri adoption law requires that the prospective adoptive child have his or her own attorney. This attorney is called a guardian ad litem ("GAL"). The GAL will review the court file to make sure all paperwork (including the adopting family's home study) is in order and, in certain counties, actually visit the adopting family's home. If age appropriate, the GAL will interview the child. The judge will ask the GAL for his or her recommendation as to whether the adoption should be granted.

Interstate adoptions are common in the Kansas City area. Many of these cases involve the adoption of a Kansas child by a Missouri adoptive family (and conversely). Sometimes, however, the birth mother resides in one of the other 48 states. In these situations, the adoption will transpire in one of three ways:

Assume for example that a Kansas family has been matched with a birth mother in North Carolina. With the advice of an attorney in her home state, birth mother would sign a Kansas consent to adoption of minor child after the child is born. The adopting family, who would most likely have already traveled to the birth mother’s home state, would then return to Kansas with the child to finalize the adoption. Upon their return to Kansas, a petition for adoption would be filed and a court date set.

Before the adopting family may leave North Carolina with the child, full compliance with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is required. The “ICPC” applies in most cases where children move between states for the purposes of adoption. The adopting family will be in North Carolina for a few days to a week (on the average) while the ICPC is processed. My office is very familiar with how to handle the ICPC and has the resources to locate a qualified adoption attorney in another state to handle the ICPC there.

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