Adoption & Custody
About
Adoption & Custody
One of the most satisfying parts of our practice is in safeguarding families through adoptions and custody matters. Clifford Family Law provides affordable professional legal services to birth parents, grandparents, step-parents, and others in domestic, interstate, and domesticated adoptions.
There are many issues that present risks and potential breakdown of the process. Complex laws, paperwork requirements, and even cultural practices differ from state to state and throughout the world.
Your greatest protection for a successful adoption lies in carefully choosing an experienced adoption attorney who can effectively guide the process and who also recognizes potential warning signs. Let our 25 years of practicing adoptions and domesticating foreign adoptions from as far away as Guatemala, Mexico, India, China, Korea, and Eastern Europe protect your rights and guide you through your obligations and responsibilities.
Helping All Families With Adoption & Custody
Same Sex Marriage Adoption
Gay Individual Adoption
Couples Adoption
Information for
Adoptive Parent(s)
Adopting a child is a time of joy and excited anticipation. While some birth parents look for specifics in adoptive parents, most simply seek a financially secure, happily married couple or individual to adopt their baby.
You will have many concerns and questions, including:
- What kinds of expenses you may be expected to pay.
- How funds will be safely handled.
- Who are the birth parents and what are their medical histories and lifestyle?
- What are their reasons for putting their child up for adoption?
- Where is the birth father—and do we need to fear possible interference?
We provide legal assistance to Florida individuals and couples who are interested in a private placement adoption. We will work to ensure your legal rights are protected and that the process is as smooth as possible.
Information for
Birth Parent(s)
Giving up a child for adoption may be the most difficult decision you will ever make. More than anything, you want to protect your child and ensure that he or she will be loved and well cared for before you can comfortably move on with your life.
We provide legal assistance to birth parents who are interested in placing a child for adoption. We know that our role in assisting birth parents is to help you make the best choice for your child. If you are considering placing your child for adoption, we will counsel you on your rights, obligations, and responsibilities in the adoption process.
Additional Information
Adoption & Custody
Temporary Custody
Because you have so much vested in the hopes and dreams of a successful outcome, choosing an attorney is a pivotal decision. Clifford Family Law has solutions and will guide you with care and compassion.
Same Sex Marriage Adoption
Same-sex marriage is now accepted and recognized in the State of Florida as valid. As a result, children born to couples in the same-sex marriage are considered as children of that marriage and belonging to both parties. In the event same-sex marriage couples divorce, they and their children are protected by Florida Statute Chapter 61 concerning child support, alimony, and parenting time.
One of the challenges is that when a child is born to a female couple, the child is not biologically related to one parent. While the process is being streamlined, adoption by the non-biologically related female is sometimes necessary to confirm her legal connection to the child.
Gay Individual Adoption
Finally, individual adoption by gay and lesbian persons is accepted and recognized. Clifford Family Law can help individuals with their specific issues and challenges.
International Adoptions
When a foreign adoption takes place, meaning the adoption is finalized, in the country from which the child is coming, a process called domestication occurs in the state in which the adoptive parent resides. In that case, Clifford Family Law would file for recognition of the foreign judgment as a valid adoption. Florida’s Office of Vital Statistics then issues a Certificate of Birth. The Certificate can be used for all the same purposes as a birth certificate. This domestication eliminates the concern of losing the original paperwork from the child’s country of birth.
Clifford Family Law helps by filing the requisite paperwork which is in possession of the adoptive parent from the foreign country (usually comes in the language of the foreign country along with an English translation). We use those documents along with some documents provided by the United States to demonstrate that the foreign adoption is valid. We then file copies of that paperwork in Florida.
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Contact Us
Have a question or schedule a consultation
(239) 220-5062
1415 Dean Street, Suite 202
Fort Myers, FL 33901