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Hello. This is my first post to the forum. We are in the process of going through an adult adoption, which is apparently an extremely rare thing. My spouse and I met this incredibly sweet young man through someone I used to supervise. He is very bright and of good character but the cards were just stacked against him since birth. No need to go into the sorry tale, but suffice it to say he was having to work to pay for food and housing for an alcoholic, drug addict mother (who was also stealing money from his wallet to pay for her habits) instead of being able to go to college or pursue his dreams. Over the years I became a surrogate father figure for him and when his mother decided to flee the state to avoid arrest I decided that enough was enough. We offered to let him move to our home where we would let him get a fresh start. We got him to cut down his hours at work to just enough for spending money; enrolled him in college and are paying the bills; and, helped connect him with the local volunteer fire department as a volunteer since that is his dream job. Heck, when his car broke down a month ago we bought him a replacement. (The car was after we had decided to adopt him, btw.) So years after we first met him and over a year after he first moved in with us, he asked us if we would consider adopting him and making him a legal part of our family instead of just an emotional part. Being childless we were happy to adopt such a wonderful person. I'm retired now and a bit of a do-it-yourselfer so I have tried to handle the paperwork for this myself, since an adult-adoption does not require birth parent consent, etc. However, there is one part that I cannot figure out. :grr: What is the format for the "Order of Reference" that is used by the Circuit Court in Virginia to refer the adoption to the Department of Social Services for a home study? Has anyone ever seen one? Is it a government form, like in Delaware? Or is it a letter that is drawn up new each time? This is the last bit of paperwork I need for submission to the adoption clerk. After this it should be very smooth sailing. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
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