An adoption legally creates a parental relationship between a child and an adult. Once an adoption is finalized, the relationship between the parents and child is as if the child had been born to them, and the parental rights of the biological (birth) parent(s) are terminated.
Maryland adoption statutes require that any child over the age of 10 years must consent to the adoption. In the DC and Virginia, any child over the age of 14 years must consent to the adoption. If the adoption is contested, the court will appoint an attorney to represent the child. In Virginia, adoptees have a guardian ad litem appointed at the initiation of the case.
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia all have statutes that provide for three kinds of adoptions: private agency, public agency and independent/private. In private adoptions, the arrangements regarding the adoption are made directly between the birth parents and the adopting parents. Maryland and the District of Columbia allow for second parent adoptions. Virginia allows married, same-sex parents to obtain a step-parent adoption. Unmarried same-sex couples in Virginia can complete a second parent adoption in DC if the child was born there after July 2009.
MARYLAND: In Maryland, birth parents who sign consents (which can only be signed after the baby is born), have 30 days to revoke their consent. A birth parent may not revoke its consent if, in the preceding year, the parent revoked the consent for or filed an objection to the adoption and the adoptee is at least 30 days old and the consent is given before a judge. After the expiration of the revocation period, a birth parent can only disrupt the adoption if he/she can prove the consent was obtained through fraud or under duress.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: In the District of Columbia, a consent to adoption may be revoked or withdrawn only after a judicial determination that the consent was not voluntarily given.
VIRGINIA: In Virginia, a birth mother gives her consent in a court proceeding at least three days after the child is born and has an additional seven days to revoke her consent. If the birth mother gives her consent more than 10 days after the birth of the child, she can waive her seven day revocation period if she is represented by counsel. A consenting birth father may do the same or waive his rights pre-birth. Virginia has a putative father registry and known birth fathers must be given notice of the registry.
For 2020, the maximum federal adoption tax credit exclusion is $14,300 per child. The amount changes each year to adjust for inflation. The credit will begin to phase out for families with modified adjusted gross incomes above $214,520, and the credit will go away completely for those with incomes above $254,520.
