This legal guide offers a streamlined review of the adoption process from start to finish. Whether you're just getting into this area of practice or are looking for a refresher, our faculty will help you clarify procedure and manage all the parties involved. Simplify the process with our sample forms and checklists, and anticipate any roadblocks or conflicts. Order today!

1. Key Rules and First Steps
2. Bio Parents Consent Procedures
3. Financial Aspects of Adoptions
4. Finalizing the Adoption and Post-Placement Follow-Up
5. Contested Adoptions
6. Legal Ethics
7. Assisted Reproductive Technology Issues
8. ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act)

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1. KEY RULES AND FIRST STEPS
   9:00 - 9:55, Jason R. Scott
   1. Qualifications of the Adopting Parent and Adopted Child
   2. Types of Adoptions and Their Procedural Steps (Foster, Single Parent, Relative, Step-Parent, Gay/Lesbian, Adult Adoption, etc.)
   3. Interstate Adoptions/ICPC (Interstate Compact on Placement of Children)
   4. International Adoption (Hague/Working with the Adoption Agency)
   5. Required and Recommended Notices
   6. Forms to Fill Out and Documents to Obtain
   7. Timeline and Deadlines
   8. Filing the Petition: What to Include
   9. Post-Adoption Contact Agreements - Family Code § 8616.5
   10. Pre-Placement Assessment – When is it Required?
2. BIO PARENTS AND CONSENT PROCEDURES
   9:55 - 10:35, Jason R. Scott
   1. Consent vs. Relinquishment of Rights, and Implications of Each
   2. Consent/Relinquishment of Rights Procedure
   3. Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
   4. Absent/Deceased Birth Parent(s)
   5. Drafting Post-Adoption Contact Agreements
   6. Putative Father Rights and Registry
   7. Deployed Bio Fathers' Consent under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
3. FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF ADOPTIONS
   10:50 - 11:40, Sheri E. Cohen
   1. Medicaid
   2. Group Insurance Coverage under OBRA 1987
   3. Birth Mother Expenses – Penal Code §§ 273 & 181
   4. Adoption Tax Credits
      1. Tax Credit for Adopting a Child with Special Needs
      2. Tax Credit for Adoption of a Child without Special Needs
      “Refundable” vs. “Non-Refundable” Credit
   5. Adoption Assistance
   6. Reimbursement for Non-Recurring Expenses
   7. Social Security
4. FINALIZING THE ADOPTION AND POST-PLACEMENT FOLLOW-UP
   11:40 - 12:30, Sheri E. Cohen
   1. Final Hearing Request and the Documents It Must Contain
   2. When must the Adopting Parents Appear, and When May Their Appearance at the Hearing be Waived?
   3. At the Final Hearing
   4. Protecting the Record
   5. Disrupted Adoptions
5. CONTESTED ADOPTIONS
   1:30 - 2:20, Douglas R. Donnelly
   1. Right to Counsel for Parents
   2. Consolidation of Adoption Paternity Cases
   3. Legal Grounds for Dispensing with Consent
      1. Standard and Burden of Proof
      2. Abandonment (Family Code § 7822)
      3. Failure to Support in Stepparent Adoptions (Family Code § 8604)
      4. Felony Record of Parent (Family Code § 7825)
      5. Child in Guardianship for 2 Years (Probate Code § 1516.5)
      6. Uniform Parentage Act (Family Code §§ 7662 & 7664)
      7. Parental Unfitness and Child's Best Interest
      8. Dispensing with Guardian's Consent
   4. Custody Determination when Adoption is Dismissed
   5. Time Period for Challenging Adoption Decree
6. LEGAL ETHICS
   2:35 - 3:35, Douglas R. Donnelly
   1. Competence and Compassion
   2. Confidentiality
   3. Reasonable Fees
   4. Legal Ethics and Non-Attorney Intermediaries
7. ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
   3:35 - 4:05, Sheri E. Cohen
   1. Consent/Notice/Relinquishment of Rights Procedure
   2. Pre-Birth Meetings and Procedures
   3. Other Surrogacy Adoption Considerations
   4. Donor Contracts: Drafting and Contesting
   5. Birth Parent Counseling (Grief, Loss, Attachment)
   6. Cutting-Edge Legal Issues in ART
8. ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act)
   4:05 - 4:30, Panel Discussion

SHERI E. COHEN had a distinguished corporate and tax law career with major international law firms before realizing her calling as an adoption and infertility attorney. Ms. Cohen has been featured in television news reports and reality programs as an expert on adoption; lectured and published articles in the area of family formation law; and has co-written a chapter on adoption and assisted reproduction for CEB, a joint project of the University of California and the State Bar of California.  She graduated from Loyola Law School in the top of her graduating class and went on to pursue an advanced law degree from New York University. Ms. Cohen volunteers her time to assist children in the foster care system. 

DOUGLAS R. DONNELLY is a sole practitioner based in Santa Barbara, California, handling contested and uncontested adoptions statewide. His practice is limited to adoption law, guardianships and related child custody proceedings. In addition to numerous articles on adoption law, Mr. Donnelly co-authored The Complete Adoption Handbook (Zondervan, 1985, 1992), and he also wrote the chapter on Adoption Law and Procedure for West's California Transaction Forms (Family Law). Mr. Donnelly's published decisions include Adoption of Michael H. (1995) 10 Cal. 4th 1043; In Re Charlotte D. (2009) 45 Cal .4th 1140; In Re Kyle F. (1993) 112 Cal. App. 4th 538; and Applegate v. Ota (1983) 146 Cal. App. 3d 702. He also is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court Central District of California and the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Mr. Donnelly earned his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Westmont College and his J.D. degree from Loyola University of Los Angeles. Mr. Donnelly is a member of the State Bar of California (Adoptions Committee and Family Law Section), the Santa Barbara County Bar Association, the Academy of California Adoption Attorneys, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, the Christian Legal Society, and Better Business Bureau. He is a past president of the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers, and currently serves as chairman of the Ethics Committee of that organization. He has also served two terms as chairman of the Ethics Committee of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. He is the principal author of the Code of Ethics of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and also the Code of Ethics of the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers. He currently serves as chairman of the Adoption Practice Section of the Christian Legal Society. Mr. Donnelly is an adopting parent of two adult daughters.

JASON R. SCOTT has been an attorney for more than 15 years, specializing in several practice areas including corporate law, employee benefits law and adoption law. His first experience in adoption law was pro bono work with The Alliance for Childrens' Rights, and 12 years later, Mr. Scott has an active adoption law practice in Los Angeles. As the father of two adopted children, he understands the adoption process changes the lives of everyone involved, including the adoptive parents, the birth parents and the adopted child. He works with many social workers and adoption agencies, and has made it his personal goal to make the adoption process as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Mr. Scott was previously an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School, teaching Banking Law and the Laws of Financial Institutions. He is also a frequent lecturer in the areas of Employee Benefits and Employee Stock Ownership Plans. Mr. Scott received his B.A. degree from UCLA and his J.D. degree from Loyola Law School.

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