§ 19-8-13.Petition; filing and contents; financial disclosures; attorney’s affidavit; redaction of certain information unnecessary

The petition starts the adoption case. It must be verified (sworn to) and filed, with one conformed copy, with the clerk of the superior court. Every petition states each petitioner’s name, age, birth date and birthplace, marital status and residence; the child’s new name; the child’s sex, birth date, birthplace and citizenship or immigration status, with an explanation of how a child who is neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident will obtain permanent resident status; how and when the child was placed; any property the child owns; whether the child’s parents or biological father are living; any guardian or legal custodian; and whether the petitioners or their attorney know of another adoption case or anyone claiming custody or visitation not disclosed in the petition. That disclosure duty continues for the life of the case. A petition filed outside the county where the petitioner lives must say why.

The attachments depend on the type of adoption. Agency adoptions under § 19-8-4 need the surrenders and acknowledgments (or a certified termination order), the agency’s sworn statement that the child is legally available, and its written consent. Third-party adoptions under § 19-8-5 need the original surrenders, acknowledgments and affidavits, proof of compliance with § 19-8-12 and the registry search, a full accounting of payments and a copy of the home study. Stepparent (§ 19-8-6) and relative (§ 19-8-7) adoptions need similar originals, plus, for a stepparent, the parent’s consent. Most types also need certificates proving marriages, deaths and other facts, and a background form on the child. A missing item must be explained. Foreign adoptions under § 19-8-8 need the passport page showing the immigrant visa and a translated birth record (plus the translated guardianship order and related papers when the child came under a guardianship); because the visa is prima facie proof that parental rights are gone, no surrender papers or § 19-8-12 compliance are required for an adoption already final abroad. When § 19-8-10 applies, the petition alleges the facts in place of the surrender papers (a § 19-8-11 case calls for similar factual allegations), and a certified juvenile court termination order can stand in for the surrender papers in some third-party and relative adoptions.

In a § 19-8-5 adoption, the petitioner must file a sworn accounting of everything of value paid or promised in connection with the adoption, and the petitioner’s attorney must file an affidavit, before the decree, of every sum paid or promised to the attorney — or, if under $500.00, a statement saying so. Reports are signed under oath before a notary. A family member with visitation under § 19-7-3 must be served with the petition at least 30 days before the hearing date. When the child has a living biological father who isn’t the legal father and hasn’t surrendered, the petition includes a putative father registry certificate covering the period beginning no later than two years before the birth, searched on or after the earliest of four listed dates. Because adoption records are sealed, filers need not redact Social Security numbers, account numbers or birth dates. The case is titled “In the interest of [the child’s birth name], a child,” with initials used on appeal.

The first version shown is the one in force. A contingent version takes effect only if a 35th state enacts the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children; it is identical except that its document lists for agency, third-party and relative adoptions refer to compliance with that new compact (Chapter 4A of Title 39) instead of the current Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (Chapter 4 of Title 39). The section was last amended in 2021.