What needs to be done AFTER the adoption is finalized?

Credit reports are not maintained on minors, so there's no way to check. You can apply for a new number, but aparents seem to have mixed results on that front.

Congrats! You have the biggest part of it. Be sure to update her name with ANY medical providers she has had. If you need records from someone a year or more from now you don't want to have to do that runaround at that time. Also make sure that your contact information is the only one on any of her files. You'll need to check with doctors, nurses, office staff, pharmacies, etc. They need to remove (or cross off) bio family, DHS caseworkers, former foster parents, etc. Be sure to not just check the regular contact info but also the "in case of emergency" and "payer" info. Congrats again!

Make sure you insist on asking for a NEW SS number as you issue for a change of name/address for your little one. Be sure to amend your will and who will benefit in the event life insurance is paid. If you don't already have an appointed person to parent her should you pass on, do so now and put that in your will. (And if you don't have a will or life insurance on yourself---do it now--don't wait.) And if you can, try to obtain the original birth certificate. Much of the time you can't; but there are attorneys/agencies who'll try to go the extra mile to obtain it and send it to you. You can always ask. And if you've not done this, you might want to send out announcement cards of your little one to your extended family/friends. We even submitted an announcement to our local paper----just like announcements when babies are born: (Your name and spouse if applicable) announce the adoption of a daughter---(new name of child) on (date of finalization). (Child's name) was born (DOB) in (city/state). (Child's name) 's grandparents are XYZ of (city/state) and great-grandparents are XYZ of (city/state). (List any children you already have as brothers/sisters and their ages if you wish.) HTH Sincerely, Linny

Thanks everyone! I have added these to my list. I also need to: *Get an official will and assign an appointed person to care for her if I cannot *Get new SS # not just new card *Update info with ALL medical personnel and remove any and all other contact information *Send out adoption announcements I actually am getting the original (unaltered) birth certificate. I fought pretty hard to get it and I have heard its in the mail - hopefully they are right. If not, I have to fight some more before the amended one takes its place. I like the idea of a newspaper announcement, but we still live in the same town as bio family and while some are supportive of the adoption, some are into some pretty sketchy stuff. For now specifics on new name, pic, etc should remain confidential. Anything else!? Side note: I just posted a new pic of her to facebook and felt SO GUILTY doing it - for the past 3 years as a foster parent, pics of kids were a big no no, but now that she's official - yeah baby!!!

Original birth certificate arrived today!!! :cheer:

I didn't think of getting the original birth certificate. We are finalizing now. How do I get it? Who do I go through?

Talk to your childs adoption social worker. Mine thought it was in her "file" but when she went to check the original wasn't there (just a copy), so they ordered and picked me up a new one. But, do it before you finalize because at least in my state the amended (with your name as Mom and childs new name) is the only one anyone has access to until the child turns 19. I didn't want to risk running into trouble if we needed it before then (or if my daughter just wanted it before then).

You can check a minor's credit. I know, because I've done it for my son. You have to actually write a physical letter to the credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, and the other one) and tell them why you are checking your child's credit. In my case, it was because a SS card was mailed to his birthmother's previous address, but no one ever claimed it. :hippie:

Some states will allow a new number after finalization and some, like ours, will not. They will only issue a new card with the new name and old number. They keep the name change in their records. This was not acceptable to my husband who was insistent, like Linny said, on getting a new number. He explained the situation (including, in our case, the information that the birthparents had multiple fraud charges and knew our daughter's SS#) and they still insisted that she could not get a new number, and reached to take the paperwork my husband had in his hands. My husband quickly walked out, not giving them the paperwork. He walked into a different SS office, and handed them the new birth certificate (and made no mention of adoption or the adoption decree) and simply said "My daughter, ___ ___ (daughters new name), needs a Social Security number. She does not have one. We have never applied for one for her." And they gave her one. Sometimes red tape makes more problems than it solves. We were not going to take no for an answer, and they were not going to issue a new number, no matter our explanation with the adoption approach, but with the new approach, with the new identity that did, in fact, NOT have a number, getting a number was easy. We had the same problem with medical records for her. The "system" told us that they needed her previous information to transfer her over, since we were in the same system. They couldn't just put her in fresh. I was not willing to give her previous name and medical numbers, and did not want her "transferred" with the files linked, because then someone looking up her old information would see the link to her new personal information. (We were told by the judge to keep her identity protected for various reasons). They insisted it could not be done any other way. I knew that it could. So I walked up to a different secretary and registered her as a new patient, just like I did with my older kids when we moved here from out of state. During the next doctor's visit, I explained the situation to our doctor - showed him the adoption decree without giving him a copy - and our daughter's medical records with her old name on them, and he was happy to put all of her medical history into the computer, including immunizations, under her new identity, with no link to her previous name or account. That way there was no paper trail for someone to slip and share or know info they don't need to. I did not do this for my first two adoptions. There was no need. But if you feel that something is important, and "they" are telling you it can't be done, it usually can. You just need to do whatever needs to be done so you feel comfortable and good about your child's information. And congratulations on finalization! Fun stuff!

Congratulations! Our children enjoyed getting a letter from the President congratulating us about their adoptions. :flower:

first of all: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! :):):) we adopted our son on 12/21/12, and everything was done by the CW, except for the new birth certificate. I got the new SS card in the mail, the new medial card, I didn't have to do a thing. I didn't change his SS #, because he has a new name now, so if anybody would want to use his #, and not knowing his name, it would get thrown back, as being 'not a match' when I went to the Dr. office, I took his new card, and the old one, and asked them to change his name on his file. I didn't have any problems taking people off his file, because we have been the only foster parents in his life, and mom never had any contact with the dr etc..

You *might* want to change her SS#. We adopted our sibling group in 2008...no problems until our taxes for 2011 were filed. Seems 'someone' had used their SS# and it delayed our tax refund. So we sent in the proper documentation and received our tax refund...late. Fast forward to this year, filed our 2012 and once again 'someone' had filed using our children's SS#. I am furious not only with whoever is doing it {due to privacy law, we aren't told who}, but for IRS for allowing it for the second year. So, once again, we wait and wait. :hissy:

Oh I forgot about sending announcements to the White House and Disney - on it now. :)

You actually can check your child's credit report. You just need to send a copy of your government-issued ID card, a copy of your child's social security card, a copy of your child's birth certificate and a proof of address, such as an utility bill, and a letter explaining you are concerned someone may have used your child's SSN fraudulently and you want a copy of their credit report. You send it to each of the 3 major credit reporting agencies.