How To Avoid A Contested Adoption

Steve, Joel, Crystal, Emley & Grant attended the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum on Steven M KirshHow to Avoid A Contested Adoption today. Steve was the chair of the presentation. Other speaker included the Honorable Erza H. Friedlander, Honerable Marianna L. Vorhees , Honorable Gerad S. Zore, Michael J. Bishop, Philip “Jay” McCarthy, Jr., Charlie P. Rice, and W. Scott Montross.

The day started off with Steve introducing the panel and playing the a video clip from the seminal case of Baby Jessica, from the early 90’s in which a little girl was returned to her biological parents after living with her prospective adoptive parents for nearly 2 years. You do not need to be intimately involved in adoption in order to appreciate the gravity of the Baby Jessica case. No one should ever be in that situation.

Michael Bishop followed up with a discussion with two of his clients who are adoptive parents that went through a contested adoption. They openly discussion the emotional roller coaster ride they went though.

Steve then presented how to properly handle an adoption to avoid a contested adoption.

Charlie P. Rice presented next regarding making the initial assessment of litigating contested adoptions. Charlie P. Rice is the top contested adoption attorney in the country. Charlie once argued, and won, in the Indiana Supreme Court, that a pre-birth consent not signed in the presence of a notary was valid. The requirements of a consent to adoption are that it is signed after the birth and that it is done so in front of a notary. Well done Charlie!