The information provided below describes the minor guardianship statute in general. What is a Minor Guardianship? Guardianship is a legal arrangement. A guardianship is created when a court appoints someone to make decisions for, and take actions for, someone else. The guardian has a legal duty to that person. The legal duty is [...]
What Happens When Someone Passes Without A Will? If someone dies without a valid will they are said to have died “intestate”. Intestate means not having made a valid will before one dies. The Washington State Legislature, in effect, wrote a will for people who did not prepare their own will (RCW 11.04.015). [...]
Adoption Subsidies for Adopting Foster Children The Washington State Adoption Support Program provides ongoing support to families who adopt foster children. These are financial grants under an adoption support agreement which can include a monthly stipend payable over the minority of the child to the adoptive parents to assist with special expenses. Children [...]
How do I get a new Birth Certificate? Following the final decree of adoption, the new legal parent(s) will want to amend the birth certificate in the state in which the adoptee was born. They will want to obtain a re-registered birth certificate showing themselves as the new legal parents and the adoptees [...]
Open Adoption Agreements in Washington An open adoption is one in which the adoptive parents, the adoptee and the birth parents will have communication and/or contact after the adoption is completed. Historically, many adoptions were “closed adoptions” in that the adoptive parents and the child-adoptee had no contact or communication with the birth [...]
Adoption with DSHS Consent | Foster Adopt Process and steps to complete adoption through DSHS placement and consent through the Law Office of Kathleen McCann Tell your DSHS adoption caseworker that Kathleen McCann will be representing you in finalizing the adoption. The caseworker will deliver to my office some of the needed paperwork [...]
Tax Credits for Adoption Expenses To take advantage of the adoption tax credit, I recommend that you consult with a tax professional to determine the extent of the tax credit available to you. The following are answers to common questions regarding tax credits and provides an overview but is not a substitute for [...]
Washington Law and Process in Transferring a Guardianship from One State to Another Guardians will sometimes move the person under guardianship (called the “ward”) from one state to another. Because guardianship is based on state law, when moving a ward between states, the Guardian will want to make sure that they have the [...]
Step Parent Adoption Step parent adoptions are adoptions where someone’s spouse adopts their child. This type of adoption requires the consent of the spouse of the adopting step parent and usually also requires the termination of the parent-child relationship of the other parent. The most common step parent adoption is where a husband [...]
Foreign Re-Adoption Checklist of Steps to complete through the Law Office of Kathleen McCann for Foreign Re-Adoption Fill out the Adoption questionnaire and the attorney and paralegal will prepare drafts of the re-adoption documents for your review. After your review and revisions, where needed, —Client and attorney to sign. Then we can file [...]
Family Law Relocation Cases Relocation cases are often the most emotionally difficult cases in family law. If you are seeking to relocate with your child (ren) I can advise and represent you to ensure that your intended relocation is processed according to the law. If you wish to prevent the relocation of your [...]
Witness Instructions Following are some general instructions for testifying as a witness in court or in a deposition. The most important witness instruction is to tell the truth. There are two ways to tell the truth. One is a halting, stumbling, hesitant manner which makes the jury or judge doubt you are telling [...]