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Well,, I'm not even sure how to begin this. I'm a teacher in California. One of my students (born in the USA) had to leave the country because the mother was deported. Not from any illegal activity, just caught in a sweep at the local market. The student has no family here and is close to graduating high school.
Is it possible for me to adopt until the graduation, when she turns 18?? Is it going to be expensive???
Thanks for any help...
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Hi, sparque!
Let's talk about deportation. First of all, the USA can not force a USA citizen to leave the country just because their parents are deported. The child left either because his parents wished the child to go with them, or because the child himself wished to go with his parents.
If the parents want the child to remain in the USA, and the child wants to remain in the USA, all they have to do is find someone willing to take responsibility for the child until the child is an adult. No adoption necessary. In many cases, the child stays with someone who the parents choose to become the child's guardian.
When guardianship papers are signed (formally or informally) the adult becomes the legal guardian - able to sign permissions for the child, able to enroll the child in school, responsible for the child's behavior, responsible for providing for the child (food, clothing, shelter, etc) , and in some cases even allowed to add the child to their own health insurance.
Guardianship can be written so that the biological parents can terminate the guardianship at any time - they can decide they want the child to join them in the other country, they can decide to grant guardianship to someone else for some reason, etc. The parents remain the parents, even though someone else is standing in some ways in their stead temporarially while the family is separated. Guardianship agreements terminate when the child becomes a legal adult, because healthy adults do not need guardians.
On the other hand, adoption MUST be a formal agreement. And it terminates the rights of the biological parent. It can never be overturned unless something was done illegally in the process. The child can never again be legally the birth parent's child (unless another adoption takes place later). The biological parents can never regain custody of the child, and have no way to change who adopted the child. It affects who is legally next of kin to each other, who has the right to make end-of-life decisions for each other, and it affects inheritance rights. Adoption is also forever - a child who you adopt is your child forever, it does not terminate at any point.
So, could you adopt the child? Possibly, if the child's parents want you to.
But is it the best decision? Probably not. There is no reason to terminate this child's parents' rights. There is no reason to affect next of kin relationships or inheritance rights. And it sounds like you just want to help this child temporarially while he's trying to finish high school. If the parents are interested in the child remaining to finish his education, something like guardianship sounds more like what you're looking for.
So talk to the parents, if they're interested then talk to the child, if the child is interested then find a lawyer who can talk you through any legal implications and file any formal paperwork that is required in your area (if any is required). It will probably be more expensive to provide for the child until he's graduated than it would be to do the legal paperwork for the guardianship.
I hope you find a solution that works for everybody!
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DianeS
Hi, sparque!
Let's talk about deportation. First of all, the USA can not force a USA citizen to leave the country just because their parents are deported. The child left either because his parents wished the child to go with them, or because the child himself wished to go with his parents.
If the parents want the child to remain in the USA, and the child wants to remain in the USA, all they have to do is find someone willing to take responsibility for the child until the child is an adult. No adoption necessary. In many cases, the child stays with someone who the parents choose to become the child's guardian.
When guardianship papers are signed (formally or informally) the adult becomes the legal guardian - able to sign permissions for the child, able to enroll the child in school, responsible for the child's behavior, responsible for providing for the child (food, clothing, shelter, etc) , and in some cases even allowed to add the child to their own health insurance.
Guardianship can be written so that the biological parents can terminate the guardianship at any time - they can decide they want the child to join them in the other country, they can decide to grant guardianship to someone else for some reason, etc. The parents remain the parents, even though someone else is standing in some ways in their stead temporarially while the family is separated. Guardianship agreements terminate when the child becomes a legal adult, because healthy adults do not need guardians.
On the other hand, adoption MUST be a formal agreement. And it terminates the rights of the biological parent. It can never be overturned unless something was done illegally in the process. The child can never again be legally the birth parent's child (unless another adoption takes place later). The biological parents can never regain custody of the child, and have no way to change who adopted the child. It affects who is legally next of kin to each other, who has the right to make end-of-life decisions for each other, and it affects inheritance rights. Adoption is also forever - a child who you adopt is your child forever, it does not terminate at any point.
So, could you adopt the child? Possibly, if the child's parents want you to.
But is it the best decision? Probably not. There is no reason to terminate this child's parents' rights. There is no reason to affect next of kin relationships or inheritance rights. And it sounds like you just want to help this child temporarially while he's trying to finish high school. If the parents are interested in the child remaining to finish his education, something like guardianship sounds more like what you're looking for.
So talk to the parents, if they're interested then talk to the child, if the child is interested then find a lawyer who can talk you through any legal implications and file any formal paperwork that is required in your area (if any is required). It will probably be more expensive to provide for the child until he's graduated than it would be to do the legal paperwork for the guardianship.
I hope you find a solution that works for everybody!
Whether you have to have a lawyer, or have to file anything with your courthouse, or have to have this approved by a judge, all depend on where you live. The rules can vary significantly by state and sometimes by county.
If I were you, I'd research this on a couple different fronts.
One thing I'd do is make a post in the "General Adoptive Parents" forum here, saying what state you're in and simply asking if anyone knows the process to become the legal guardian of a high school student whose parents are out of the country. Someone here may know.
Another thing I'd do is find some lawyers who are "family law" lawyers. Your yellow pages can tell you that. Call their offices, find some that know guardianship laws and give free initial conferences. Then go and ask all your questions. You're not committing to use that lawyer, you're just getting information. Get that info from several lawyers if you can. Then if you HAVE to use a lawyer, or you think it's a good idea, you can pick one of them to actually pay and do the paperwork. (If you just fill out your own papers where you live, all the secretaries are likely to tell you that.)
And I'd also start doing your own internet searches. Find the page for the courthouse for your town. Peruse all the forms they have available for download (if they have any) See if they have one for guardianship. If they have a phone number for a court clerk, you can call that and ask this question, too. They may also have lists of recommended lawyers for certain subjects. Every courthouse site is different, hopefully yours is good and can help you. A few lawyers' sites may give you good info, too, it doesn't hurt to check them out as well.
If you have a few good hours to put toward this (on a weekday so you can make the phone calls), you should have a good idea of what your area requires for guardianship, and an idea of whether you can do it yourself or if you'll be hiring a lawyer. You may be able to get your answers even faster than that, especially if you stumble across someone who recently went through this process themselves in your area.
Hang in there!