GEORGIA

 Any adult person, including a foster parent, may adopt a child, if the personis at least 25 years old or is married and living with his or her spouse; is atleast 10 years older than the child; has been a resident of the State for atleast 6 months before filing to adopt; and is financially, physically, andmentally able to have permanent custody of the child.

 Married persons must adopt jointly, unless the person who wants to adopt isthe stepparent, then that person can file to adopt alone.

Who Can Be Adopted?

 Any person can be adopted.

Consent to Adoption

 Consent must be given by

 (1) the Department of Human Resources or child-placing agency after theparents have surrendered their rights to the child or have had their parentalrights terminated by court order;

 (2) both biological parents, when surrendering the child directly to a thirdparty other than the Department or child-placing agency;

 (3) the child, if 14 years of age or older; and

 (4) both natural parents, if living, in the case of a stepparent adoption.

 Adult persons may be adopted by giving written consent to the adoption.

 A parent's consent is not required when the parent

 (1) has abandoned the child or cannot be found;

 (2) is incapacitated from giving up his/her rights to the child; or

 (3) has for a period of 1 year or longer failed to communicate with or providesupport for the child and the mother during her pregnancy, and the court hasdecided that adoption is in the child's best interest as a familial bond wasnot formed between the biological father and the child.

 If there is a biological father, who is not the legal father of the child, hemay consent to the adoption if his whereabouts are known and he has not givenup the child for adoption. He shall be notified that the mother has given upthe child for adoption. He will be given 30 days to respond, otherwise hisparental rights will be terminated and he cannot object to the adoption. If heasserts rights to the child, the court will assess those rights with respect tofactors such as whether he has lived with, supported, or legitimated thechild.

 If the biological, nonlegal father's whereabouts are unknown, the adoptionagency will file a petition with the court to terminate his rights and allowthe adoption to occur. The court will make the decision about whether theadoption should occur, based on the circumstances, e.g., whether the biologicalfather established a familial bond with the child and whether the Departmentmade reasonable efforts to locate the father.

 The parent who has consented to the adoption may withdraw consent by writtennotice within 10 days after consenting.

Confidentiality

 All records that relate to the adoption shall be kept sealed and locked. Theparties at interest in the adoption may examine the records if the court findsthere is good cause for them to do so. When certain information is medicallynecessary, the child-placing agency may petition the court to obtain access tothe records.

 Nonidentifying information can be released to an adoptive parent or an adopteewho is 21 years of age. An adoptee who is 21 years of age or older may receiveidentifying information about their biological family if the biological parenthad given written permission.

 If the biological parent did not give permission, the child-placing agencywill make diligent efforts to notify the biological parent of the request. Ifthe biological parent does not consent, then the information will not bereleased. If the agency is unable to find the parent, then the adoptee canpetition the court to release identifying information, and the court willdetermine whether or not releasing the information will have an adverse impacton the child's physical, mental, or emotional health.

 The Division of Family and Children Services Adoption Unit will maintain aregistry for recording of requests by adoptees for the names of biologicalparents.

Permissible Fees

 The adoptive parent must file with the court a report of all disbursements inconnection with the adoption. Every attorney must file a report of all sumspaid or promised to the attorney for all services rendered in connection withthe adoption. The adoptive parents may also be required to reimburse thechild-placing agency for the cost of the preadoption report and criminalbackground check, not to exceed $250.

Place of Adoption Hearing

 The adoption hearing shall take place in the court of the county where theadoptive parent resides, unless there is good cause shown that the hearingshould take place in the county where the adoptee or the adoption agency havinglegal custody of the child is located.

Authority To Place Child

 The Department of Human Resources or a licensed child-placing agency has theauthority to place the child.

Relative Adoption

 A child who has any living parent or guardian may be adopted by a relative whois related by blood or marriage to the child, only if each living parent andeach guardian has voluntarily and in writing given that relative the rights tothe child so that he or she can adopt the child. The adoptee who is 14 yearsof age or older also must consent. The same restrictions regarding withdrawalof consent under nonrelative adoptions apply.

Advertisements

 Only a child-placing agency licensed by the Department may advertise that itwill adopt children or arrange for children to be adopted. Furthermore, onlythese agencies may provide financial assistance (beyond that which is medicallyrelated to the pregnancy or birth) to a parent giving up a child.

State Law: FullText

Not available in electronic form at this time for this state, sorry.

Attorney Referral Service

State Bar of Georgia
800 The Hurt Building
50 Hurt Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 527-8700

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