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. Pre-Placement Assessment and Temporary Placement
3. Bio Parents Consent Procedures
4. Surrogacy and Other ART Issues
5. Financial Aspects of Adoptions
6. Finalizing the Adoption and Post-Placement Follow-Up
7. Contested Adoptions
8. Legal Ethics

1. KEY RULES AND FIRST STEPS
   9:00 - 10:00, Gary D. Beasley
   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, etc.)
   3. Interstate Adoptions/ICPC (Interstate Compact on Placement of Children)
   4. International Adoption (Hague/Working with the Adoption Agency)
   5. ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act)
   6. Required and Recommended Notices
   7. Forms to Fill Out and Documents to Obtain
   8. Timeline and Deadlines
   9. Filing the Petition: What to Include
2. PRE-PLACEMENT ASSESSMENT AND TEMPORARY PLACEMENT
   10:00 - 10:30, Karen Cain
   1. Who can Perform the Pre-Placement Assessment?
   2. Background/Criminal Checks
   3. Home Visit
   4. Pre-Placement Report
   5. Temporary Placement Procedures
3. BIO PARENTS AND CONSENT PROCEDURES
   10:45 - 11:30, Gary D. Beasley
   1. Consent/Relinquishment of Rights Procedure
   2. Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
   3. Absent/Deceased Birth Parent(s)
   4. Drafting Post-Adoption Contact Agreements
   5. Putative Father Rights and Registry
   6. Deployed Bio Fathers' Consent under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
4. SURROGACY AND OTHER ART ISSUES
   11:30 - 12:15, Robert J. Turner
   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 (Assisted Reproductive Technologies)
5. FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF ADOPTIONS
   1:15 - 2:00, Karen Cain
   1. Medicaid
   2. Group Insurance Coverage under OBRA 1987
   3. Birth Mother Expenses
   4. Adoption Tax Credits
      1. Tax Credit for Adopting a Child with Special Needs
   5. Adoption Assistance
   6. Reimbursement for Non-Recurring Expenses
   7. Social Security
6. FINALIZING THE ADOPTION AND POST-PLACEMENT FOLLOW-UP
   2:00 - 2:30, Gary D. Beasley
   1. Final Hearing Request and the Documents It Must Contain
   2. At the Final Hearing
   3. Protecting the Record
   4. Disrupted Adoptions
7. CONTESTED ADOPTIONS
   2:45 - 3:30, Robert J. Turner
   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
      3. Lack of Significant Contact
      4. Failure to Support
      5. Sexual Malfeasance by Putative Father
      6. Parental Unfitness and Child's Best Interest
      7. Dispensing with Guardian's Consent
   4. Custody Determination when Adoption is Dismissed
   5. Time Period for Challenging Adoption Decree
8. LEGAL ETHICS
   3:30 - 4:30, Robert J. Turner
   1. Competence and Compassion
   2. Confidentiality
   3. Reasonable Fees
   4. Legal Ethics and Non-Attorney Intermediaries

GARY D. BEASLEY is a member of the law firm of Kidwell, South & Beasley in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He practices in the areas of family law, adoption law and Social Security disability. Mr. Beasley is admitted to practice law in Tennessee and before the U.S. District Court Middle District of Tennessee. He earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, and his J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University. Mr. Beasley is a member of the Rutherford County, Tennessee and American bar associations.

KAREN CAIN is a sole practitioner in Nashville, where her practice is concentrated in the areas of family law, divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, alimony, adoptions, domestic violence, premarital agreements, family mediation and juvenile law. Ms. Cain earned her B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University and her J.D. degree from the Nashville School of Law. She is a member of the Nashville Bar Association.

ROBERT J. TURNER is principal with Robert J. Turner & Associates, P.C., where he practices in the areas of family law, criminal law and plaintiff's personal injury. His certifications include civil trial specialist and criminal trial specialist. Mr. Turner previously has lectured to the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on motion practice and DUIs. He also published the case document "Dockins v. Balboa Ins. Co.:Has the Tennessee Supreme Court Misinterpreted the Legislative Intent of the Uninsured Motorist Statute?" Mem. St. L. Re. 683 (1990). Mr. Turner earned his B.S. degree from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. degree from the University of Memphis. He is a member of the Nashville Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the American Trial Lawyers Association.

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