adoption decree

I cant imagine why they need the adoption decree - how do they even know that he is adopted? The new birth certificate lists you as the parent, so that should be enough!! If not, for some unknown and unthinkable reason, it is not impossible to get another judgment from the court. Because the records are sealed, you will have to file a motion to open the record, but if you certify the reason why, etc. it can be done. Before you go through that trouble though, check with your attorney who did the finalization. I am an attorney and when I handle adoption hearings, I always keep a judgment in the client file for exactly this reason!! Of course you know that the day after you resolve this (however you do) you will find the original judgment! Just because thats how life works you know!! Good luck!

Thanks, NJMama. I did contact my attorney who also said he never heard of such a thing, and it was "absurd!" He told me that if I send him the letter he can get a copy of the judgement out of my file and send it to me, and the surrogate in the hall of records can make me a certified copy. Of course its all going to cost me :grr: The odd thing about this is that I had been so paranoid about losing the judgement from the minute I got it; I took special care to keep it with his and my birth certificates as well as SS#s. I still have the letter that said it was enclosed as well as the envelope it came in, but the judgement itself is missing. I have turned my place upside down looking for it, but it must have slipped into a parallel universe. On the + side, I found an old check from my brother that I never cashed:D

I think whoever asked for the "decree" was confused when it came to paperwork. The papers signed by the judge should be good enough, and yes, your attorney will have a copy.Now I DID have to show the adoption paperwork to Blue Cross when our union (AFT) was in a dispute with the state about dependents on our healthcare plan. That was annoying.