Here at Williams Law Offices we understand that this is an exciting, but stressful time in your life. Therefore, you need an experienced adoption firm that you can trust to handle all aspects of the adoption.

You may be hesitant to adopt because you are under a common false understanding that most adoptions, especially domestic adoptions end up where the adoptive parents are legally forced to return their child to the biological parents. That is simple not true.

In fact, 95% of domestic adoptions are successful if handled by the appropriate professionals.

Below is some general information for you to read, but call us as we would like to speak with you in person.

“God bless that mother far away whose feeling life too much to bare, gave up this child one desperate day with one last hope for love and care. For could that have been an easy task? Oh, how it must have hurt to say, ‘be good my child, don’t be afraid, and turn and walk away.’ And how she must still ache to feel those little arms so frail and thin press tightly around her. But now those little arms hug me, those little almond eyes so dear, press tightly around me in appeal and oh thank God this child is here. That another mother loved her so, she found the strength to let her go and may our lives in worthy of, that final, total, gift of love.” - Anonymous Author

General legal process and costs for Domestic Adoptions; the how and how much.

There are generally five types of adoptions: Direct, Agency, Step-parent, Foster Care (State Ward), and Adult. You may have heard the terms open and closed. Those terms tell how much information is going to be disclosed by the parties; non-identifying and identifying information. For example, a closed adoption generally means that the biological parent(s) identity will not be disclosed to the adoptee unless there is a medical emergency forcing the courts to “open” and “disclose’ the identity. Then there is an “open” adoption which typically means the biological parent(s) identity will be known and even perhaps have a relationship with the adoptee. The extent of the non-identifying and identifying information varies from adoption to adoption. Then the terms international and domestic refer to the place where the adoptee was adopted from.

The costs for a domestic adoption varies significantly depending on the agency, attorney, and the type of adoption. Direct placement adoptions are generally cheaper because the biological mother has chosen on her own the adoptive parents without an agency. They come to an attorney, like myself, and I take them step by step through their journey.

	A recent study conducted about adoption and homeless children stated that if every family adopted one child – there would be no children without a home. How powerful is that?

Our firm carefully screens our clients needs then decides whether it would be in the clients best interest to go with an agency or hire our firm. We charge a flat rate of about $2,000.00 for attorneys’ fees for a Domestic adoption. There are other fees involved such as court filing fees, home study fees, and counseling fees which brings the total cost for a Domestic adoption using our firm to about $4,000.00-$6,000.00.

We also offer a free initial phone consultation and a $50.00 in office consultation fee that would go towards the total cost of the adoption if you should hire our firm.

We want the adoption to be as affordable as possible and help our families pay for it by advising them on the Federal adoption tax credit and the Michigan adoption tax credit which actually reimburses the families for our attorneys’ fees. Most of our families do qualify.

Here is the general Domestic adoption process: Please note these are in no way all inclusive. These steps are just a guideline in the process and may vary in order depending upon the case.

1. Application for Adoption;
2. Petition for Adoption;
3. Pre-placement assessment;
4. Termination of biological parents’ rights, if applicable;
5. Clearance of adoptive parents;
6. Biological parents counseling, if applicable;
7. Medical checkup;
8. Gathering of all legal documents necessary to complete court intake sheets;
9. Meeting with case worker;
10. Court hearing to finalize adoption; and
11. Post-adoption wrap-up

If you hire our firm to handle your adoption you can focus your time on preparing for your new addition– rest knowing our legal team is making the adoption legal and final.