Attorney present at adoption hearing...

[rachhandley]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Minnesota

My husband is adopting my daughter, YAY!

When we first started this process, the court administrator for our county said that we can do most of the adoption process on our own without the need for an attorney because our case is a fairly simple one ( simple meaning: the birth father voluntarily gave up his rights and we arent dealing with any abuse/neglect issues or any issues stemming from my husband or myself) Also, the court admin. stated that we do NOT need an attorney present for the hearing and we can choose to represent ourselves if we feel comfortable. Now, I'm wondering if anyone on here has done a step-parent adoption without the use of and attorney and if so, was it fairly easy? Do the judges tell you what to do? I just have this crazy image in my mind of the court hearings you see on Law & Order!!! I'm really scared that the judge will ask me all these questions with confusing legal terms or that I will have to act as a lawyer does and use special terminology when speaking to the judge. Am I expected to 'pretend' I know how an attorney acts in a courtroom?
We are just trying to save a few bucks by avoiding attorney fees. In the long run... would I be better off if I did hire and attorney?
Thanks for any responses.

[TheGeekess]

An attorney would make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. If paperwork is not done properly, it can cause more problems than you can think of. If it's such drop-kick as you think is is, then it's a matter of filing all the paperwork, including the TPR papers for Dad and the adoption papers.

[seniorjudge]

Q: Also, the court admin. stated that we do NOT need an attorney present for the hearing and we can choose to represent ourselves if we feel comfortable. Now, I'm wondering if anyone on here has done a step-parent adoption without the use of and attorney and if so, was it fairly easy?

A: Court administrators should NOT be giving legal advice!



Q: Do the judges tell you what to do?

A: Judges are not allowed to practice law.



Q: I just have this crazy image in my mind of the court hearings you see on Law & Order!!!

A: I believe crazy image pretty well sums it up.



Q: I'm really scared that the judge will ask me all these questions with confusing legal terms or that I will have to act as a lawyer does and use special terminology when speaking to the judge. Am I expected to 'pretend' I know how an attorney acts in a courtroom?

A: Let's hope not.



Q: We are just trying to save a few bucks by avoiding attorney fees. In the long run... would I be better off if I did hire and attorney?

A: Stop smoking, stop drinking, stop going out to eat; scrimp and save there, not a kid's life.

[rachhandley]

Well, thanks for the responses.

We have filed all of the paperwork and it has been 'approved' (so to say) and accepted by the court admin. We have just been waiting for the court date and now we finally got the notice in the mail about when the hearing will take place.


Also, we dont smoke, drink or go out to eat - THAT is a waste of time and money. We have been scrimping and saving. I wasn't trying to give off the impression that we wont lay down a few bucks if necessary - I'm just fishing around to see if we can avoid unneccessary costs seeing as how I've been told I can do this without an attorney.

[JustAMom2five]

I can empathize with the idea of not wanting to spend money if it is unnecessary, however even though my husbands adoption to "our" daughter is also very "cut and dry" we have a lawyer handling it all for us. The negative ramifications of making some kind of error in the adoption process are much to troublesome to think about the cost of a lawyer as deciding factor to whether or not we use one.
My ex is also is willing to voluntarily terminate his parental rights but as I am sure others have pointed out in this thread and other threads... the laws and technical procedures are complicated even in the simplest of cases. So I can only hope that in your circumstance you have been able to cover all the bases and everything goes smoothly.

Good Luck!