Interstate Adoption

Many adoptions are more complicated because the party making the adoptive placement (the birth mother or licensed agency with legal custody of the child) may reside in one state (called the “sending state”) and the prospective adoptive family may reside in another state (called the “receiving state”). In such cases, with limited exceptions, the adoption must satisfy certain legal requirements of both states before the child is legally permitted to leave the sending state and enter the receiving state. There is a specific statute, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, or ICPC, that governs interstate adoptions. The ICPC applies to adoptions across all 50 states. The ICPC requires that certain documents, including written notice of a proposed placement, the adoptive parents’ home study and other pertinent documents, be provided to the ICPC office in the sending state for review and approval. Upon approval by the sending state, the documents are then sent to the ICPC office of the receiving state. When the receiving state approves the placement, usually between 3 and 14 working days, the adoptive parents are free to travel with the child back to their home state.

I have helped many families in Morris, Union, Monmouth and Somerset Counties as well as the remaining counties in New Jersey. Please feel free to contact my firm if you are in need of legal assistance with your interstate adoption.