Understanding Adoption Cases

What is Adoption?

Adoption is a legal process that creates a parent-child relationship by court decree. The result of the adoption is that the adopted child will have the same legal rights as a child by birth and have a birth certificate with your name listed as the parent. Adults can be adopted as well.

Adoption can be a complex legal matter, and you may need an experienced attorney to handle your petition for adoption.

Basic Steps in Adoption Cases

Individuals who wish to adopt a child or adult must file a Petition for Adoption. For a sample Petition you may fill out and download PETITION FOR ADOPTION (PDF) - if you are using Chrome, follow the steps in How to Open the Petition for Adoption Form Using Chrome. In addition, the Petitioner must attach documentation to the Petition. For a list of the required documentation  download Adoption Petition Exhibits(Non-TPR) (PDF).

Additionally, the parents and/or guardians of the child to be adopted must be notified of the adoption and either (1) consent to the adoption or (2) be served with a show cause order. They have the right to file an objection to the adoption in the Court if they do not agree. The judge will hold an adoption hearing prior to entering a judgment of adoption.

Below is a listing of links to blank forms to assist when filing for adoption:

*Effective June 1, 2019, Maryland adoption laws for children conceived by assisted reproduction changed. The new law, found in Maryland Family Law Article 5-3B-27, streamlines and expedites the adoption process for second/parent adoptions*

Parents sitting with adopted child

Maryland Rules of Procedure, Title 9. Family Law Actions, Chapter 100. Adoption, Guardianship Terminating Parental Rights, § 9-101 to 9-103

Maryland Code, Family Law, Title 5. Children

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Adoption

If you want to know whether you were adopted in Montgomery County, you must provide the year of the adoption and the name of your adoptive parent(s).

The location of the adoption file depends on the year the adoption became final:

  • Adoptions finalized before 1947 are not sealed and are listed alphabetically by year in the Equity & Law docket books housed in the Circuit Court’s Land Records Department.
  • Adoptions filed from 1947-1992 are sealed and may not be accessed by the public. However, adoptees may be given confirmation that they were adopted in Montgomery County, and their file number may be given to the petitioner(s) and adoptee ONLY.
  • After 1992, legislation about adoptions changed, and a law was passed stating that the public could have access to specific information if it was furnished separately from the adoption files. The petitioner(s) and adoptee may request a certified copy of the final adoption decree, but the Court will not release information to anyone on their behalf. To do so, they first need to file a motion with the Family Department to unseal the adoption.
How do I find my birth parents?

The Court cannot release any information on birth parents to an adoptee. If an adoptee wishes to find his/her birth parents, he/she must contact the Department of Human Resources at 1-800-39ADOPT. The Department of Human Resources will put the adoptee in contact with a Certified Confidential Intermediary.

What is a Certified Confidential Intermediary?

Certified Confidential Intermediaries have access to adoption files, and they conduct reviews and release non-identifying information to adoptees. The Court can release non-identifying information the intermediary releases if the birth parents did not file a veto when consenting to the adoption of their child.

If I have adopted a child from a foreign country, do I have to adopt them in the United States too?

No, Maryland does not require adoptive parents to re-adopt children they have legally adopted in a foreign country. However, many adoptive parents choose to re-adopt their foreign-born children. If adoptive parents have a foreign adoption decree and the child was granted a U.S. citizenship, they can get a Maryland certificate of foreign birth for the adopted children without re-adopting them. In these cases, the children would have a U.S. certificate of citizenship provided by the State Department.

The adoptive parent(s) must re-adopt foreign-born children if the foreign country only allowed the adoptive parents to obtain guardianship or the child did not receive U.S. citizenship when he/she entered the U.S. usually because the child's visa did not convey those rights. The adoptive parents may choose to re-adopt to change the child's name, correct the child's date of birth, because local government (school) requires it, and/or to add a spouse to the adoption for estate purposes.

If I submit original licenses/certificates with the adoption petition, may I have them returned?

Yes. Please submit a motion requesting the return of your originals and a proposed order for the judge to sign. Original documents submitted to the Court will be returned to you after the completion of the final hearing.

 

Adoption Filing Fees

$165.00 cash, money order, or check (payable to the "Clerk of Court").

Additional Adoption Resources

The Adoption/Guardianship Case Manager reviews all initial pleadings in adoptions filed in the Court, including adoption petitions filed in the Juvenile Court as a result of terminations of parental rights in abuse/neglect cases. She assists attorneys and petitioners in completing documents and filings and makes referrals for investigative services where appropriate. However, she does not provide legal advice.

The Adoption Clerk at Montgomery County Circuit Court handles filings of petitions for adoption, including stepparent adoptions, foreign re-adoptions, agency adoptions, independent adoptions, adult adoptions, and the termination of parental rights of children (TPR).

For additional information, contact the:

  • Adoption/Guardianship Case Manager Angela Yoo, Family Division Services (Phone: 240-777-9119)
  • Adoption Clerk, Family Department (Phone: 240-777-9428)

Additional links to websites outside of the Circuit Court are as follows:

International Adoptions:


How to Open the Petition for Adoption Form Using Chrome

If you are using the Chrome browser, follow these steps:

  1. Click on PETITION FOR ADOPTION (PDF) to download the form. The form should appear in Chrome's download history in the upper right corner. Clicking the Downloads icon (a down arrow) in the upper right corner will also show download history.

  2. In download history, right click on the petition form, and left click on Open with system viewer.

Instructions for downloading the adoption form using the chrome browser.

If you are unable to open the form, please contact [email protected].

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