Title 45, Juvenile Justice

Any child under 18 years of age present in the territory at the time the petition for adoption is filed and legally available for adoption under 45.0412 may be adopted. Upon approval of the Court, a person 18 years of age or older but under 21 years of age may be adopted as a chi…

(a) Any person 21 years of age or older may petition the Court to decree an adoption. (b) A minor, upon approval of the court, may petition the Court to decree an adoption. History: 1980, PL, 16-71 § 1.

(a) A child may be available for adoption only upon: (1) order of the Court terminating all parental rights in the child in a proceeding brought under paragraph (a)(3) of 45.0115; (2) order of the Court decreeing the voluntary relinquishment of all parental rights in the child un…

No placement of any child legally available for adoption under paragraph (a)(l), (a)(2), (a)(3) or subsection (d) of 45.0412 may be made for the purposes of adoption except by the Court, the Department of Health, a child placement agency or institution, or an individual in whom g…

(a) Unless the placement is made by the Court or in accordance with the law of another State or Territory, written consent of the Department of Health, agency, or individual to the proposed adoption, as required by 45.04 12, shall be filed with the petition to adopt. (b) In place…

(a) The petition for adoption is filed not later than 30 days after the date on which the child is first placed in the home of the adoptive applicants for the purpose of adoption unless the Court finds that there was reasonable cause or excusable neglect for not filing the petiti…

Except for stepparent adoptions and those cases in which placement for adoption has been made by the Court, or by an individual in whom guardianship of the person of the child has been placed by the Court, or in accordance with the law of another State or Territory, if a petition…

(a) A hearing on the petition for adoption is held on the date set or the date to which the matter has been regularly continued. (b) No later than 6 months following the date of the hearing, unless for good cause shown that time is extended by the Court, the Court may enter a dec…

(a) After the entry of a final decree of adoption, the petitioner and the adopted person sustain toward each other the legal relation of parent and child, including the rights of inheritance from each other, and have all the rights and be subject to all the duties of a child born…

(a) If the Court enters an order of adoption, certified copies are given to the adopting parents, the person or agency consenting to the adoption, the Clerk of the High Court, and the Registrar of Vital Statistics. (b) The Court or the adopting parents or their legal representati…

(a) No person may offer, give, charge, or receive any money or other consideration or thing of value in connection with the consent to adoption or with the petition for adoption except attorney’s fees relative to the adoption proceedings and the charges and fees as may be approve…

Final decree of adoption may not be attacked by reason of any jurisdictional or procedural defect after 2 years following the entry of the final decree. History: 1980, PL, 16-71 § 1.

(a) Notwithstanding any other section of law, in appropriate cases serving the best interests of a child, the Court may appoint a qualified person as the child’s guardian with such powers and custodial duties as set forth under 45.0103 (16) and (18), or either, as the Court may o…