Navigating the GA Adoption Process
The legal landscape frequently interacts with family dynamics, especially when it involves expanding your family through adoption. Adoption is a profound area within family law that not only brings immense joy but also requires a delicate and informed approach to navigate the legal intricacies involved. At Phillips & Sellers, P.C. in Columbus, GA, we specialize in facilitating diverse types of adoptions with over two decades of legal expertise, fostering cooperative and efficient family legal resolutions.
Specialized Adoption Services
Adoption is a transformative journey that enables you to open your hearts and home to a child in need. However, navigating the adoption process can often be complex and emotionally taxing. At Phillips and Sellers, P.C. Attorneys at Law, we understand that without proper legal guidance, the future of your expanding family could face unnecessary hurdles.
Our firm is experienced in handling all types of adoptions – traditional, stepparent, co-parent, single parent, LGBT family adoptions.
Benefits of Choosing Phillips & Sellers, P.C.
Whether you choose adopt through an agency or through a private arrangement, Phillips & Sellers, P.C. will ensure that every aspect of your adoption is legally sound, so you can welcome your adoptive child to your family knowing the adoption is a forever placement.
Let us help you ensure that the process is as smooth and fulfilling as possible, allowing you to focus on the joy of welcoming a new member to your family.
Trusted GA Adoption Attorneys
Choosing a trusted legal representative is crucial. The attorneys at Phillips & Sellers, P.C. are dedicated to offering effective, compassionate, and respectful adoption legal services. Our law firm brings a wealth of experience and a genuine passion for family law, treating each case with the personalized attention it deserves.
We are here to discuss your unique situation, explore your options, and help you devise the best adoption plan tailored to your family’s needs.
Our Practice Areas
Here are several of our primary areas of legal experience and expertise.
Georgia Adoption FAQs
An adoption is filed in the county of residence of the person(s) who is adopting the child. You must have lived in that county for at least six (6) months prior to the filing of the adoption.
In Georgia, you must be 25 years of age or over or married and living with your spouse. You must be at least 10 years older than the child. If you are married, you must file jointly to adopt. There is no length of marriage requirement in Georgia. In Alabama, you must be 19 years of age or older. If you are married, you must file jointly. If you are the step-parent attempting to adopt your spouse’s child, you must be married for over one year before filing an adoption.
A licensed agent interviews and investigates the adoption petitioner to determine if the petitioner is physically, financially and emotionally capable of adopting a child. The agent looks at your home, your finances, and your criminal background and makes a report to the Judge to determine if the adoption is in the best interest of the child. The cost in Georgia for the home study is approximately $250.00. The cost in Alabama is more expensive but varies.
In Georgia, a home-study evaluation is required in all adoption cases except step-parent adoptions. In step-parent adoptions, the person petitioning for adoption will have to submit to a criminal background check in lieu of a complete home-study evaluation.
The fees vary depending on the complexity of the adoption. If both birth parents consent to the adoption, the adoption is considered uncontested and less expensive.
Choose Phillips & Sellers, P.C.
Where we treat you like a person and not like you’re just another file.
Selecting the proper legal representation is crucial in family matters, especially regarding legal adoption. At Phillips & Sellers, P.C., we prioritize your family’s well-being by offering personalized, compassionate, and skilled legal advocacy. Our founders, Scott Phillips and Angela Sellers are not just passionate about family law; they are dedicated adoption attorneys who treat every case with the utmost care and respect, as if handling their own family matters. Whether you need guidance through the adoption process or other family law issues, our team is here to support you every step of the way. Contact our office today to start your adoption journey.
Resources & Documentation
In certain circumstances, we lawyers will need clients to provide us with documentation at the time we commence our representation or later during the natural flow of the case. This documentation may include marriage licenses, birth certificates, proof of income, certified documents from previous litigation and other kinds of public records. Below is a list of websites where such information can be obtained as well as links to required parenting seminars, child support calculators and other information that prospective or current clients may find helpful.
- Pastoral Institute – Seminar for Divorcing Parents (Georgia)
- Transparenting Seminar (Alabama)
- Alabama Child Support Calculators
- Georgia Child Support Calculators
- Alabama Birth Certificates, Marriage Licenses and Divorce Certificates
- Georgia Birth Certificates, Marriage Licenses and Divorce Certificates
- Military Pay Tables
- Muscogee County Deed Records and Court Dockets