How to Find an Adoption Attorney in Canada
Tips for Canadian Adoptive and Birth Parents Choosing a Lawyer
Sep 23, 2009
Lawyers who handle adoption cases often have expertise in legal issues affecting adoptive and birth families. Within adoption law, many lawyers further specialize in either family adoption or non-family adoption. Some adoption attorneys work as licensees who can help facilitate adoptions and others assist with resolutions that are unique to adoption situations.
By understanding the role of an adoption lawyer, knowing where to find legal counsel and thinking of questions to ask the attorney, members of the adoption constellation can ensure they are receiving the help they need in their pursuit of adoption.
Why Use an Adoption Attorney?
As most Canadians adopt through international, domestic and public adoption agencies, the legal aspect of adoption is usually a secondary aspect in the eyes of the involved families. Aside from helping with adoption finalization and possible representation in court and legal matters, adoption attorneys can offer Canadian families help with:
- Domestic adoption processes
- Independent adoption processes
- International adoption processes
- Kinship or step-parent adoption processes
- Disrupted adoption issues
- Contested adoption
- Embryo adoption processes
- Surrogacy legislation
- Mediation between birth and adoptive families
In Ontario, adoption lawyers can also work as licensees allowing them to facilitate the same processes that occur through private adoption agencies, including presenting the profiles of potential adoptive parents to birth mothers.
Where to Look for an Adoption Lawyer
As legalized adoptions require adherence to provincial laws, it is important to choose an adoption attorney who is familiar with legislation of the province in which the child resides. Birth and adoptive parents can find qualified adoption attorneys through:
- Telephone directories
- Adoption agencies
- Ministry websites that govern the adoption process such as the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in Ontario
- Recommendations from other adoptive parents
Law organizations such as the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys also list Canadian affiliates who specialize in adoption.
What to Ask an Adoption Lawyer
When birth and adoptive families choose a lawyer to work with, they need to remember that this person will know very private things about them, and they need to be able to build a trusting relationship with the attorney. In choosing an adoption lawyer, birth and adoptive parents should ask:
- What are the fees and schedule of billing?
- What are the lawyer’s success rates of finalized adoptions?
- What is the attorney’s experience in working in adoption and areas of expertise?
- What is the licensee’s view on issues such as open adoption?
- What are the services offered before, during and after the adoption placement?
- How can the lawyer be reached in off hours when a situation arises?
To avoid unhappy surprises, hopeful adoptive parents should create an extensive list of questions including what fees they are responsible for if an adoption does not go through. The Adoption Guide created by Adoptive Families magazine has a comprehensive worksheet for adoptive parents to use when interviewing potential adoption attorneys.
As a key player in the forming of adoptive families, the choosing of an adoption attorney requires some research. By understanding what adoption lawyers can do and the main questions to ask, adoptive and birth parents can find legal assistance that fits with their goals.
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