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ellabellame 
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Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: Hokitika
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 Topic: adoption, age limit??
Posted: 06 February 2010 at 12:01pm |
DP and i are in the process of getting mikey adopted by him. we have a lawyer and it's all been filed with the courts and everything, it's been in the works now for about 3-4 months.
now, all of a sudden, my friend tells me that anyone adopting a child has to be over the age of 25. i looked it up on the net and it's true!!
i'm actually quite p***ed off, we can't really afford the lawyer's fees anyway and were only doing it because it would be totally worth it in the end and now it looks like that's not going to happen and we're going to have to pay up anyway!  i personally think someone should have let us know at the start of all of this, i mean, they have all our details and everything. at the very least they should go through the criteria with prospective adoptive parents at the very first meeting to make sure.
ETA: DP is turning 23 in a week and i am turning 24 the day before that, so we're not too far off.
Edited by ellabellame
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fire_engine
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Joined: 03 November 2007
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 12:18pm |
I would think that would be grounds for disputing the lawyers fees, if they failed to advise you that it was impossible yet still did it  . I'd go back to your lawyer and question it - there may be some exceptions that they have know of and that's why they've done the work.
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Mum to two wee boys
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ellabellame
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 12:22pm |
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i wrote him an email asking him about it so cross fingers there have been exceptions in the past.
i didn't know you could dispute lawyers fees, we may have to look into that if it all goes wrong.
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fire_engine
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 12:37pm |
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Yup, definitely can. You may need to first dispute it with the lawyer involved but you can also go through the New Zealand Legal Society and they will have someone neutral look at the situation. That wouldn't just be a fees dispute though, it would be disputing the actual legal advice that they gave you.
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Mum to two wee boys
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cuppatea
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 12:42pm |
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Seems like a silly rule when legally you can have sex and make your own child at 16.
Fingers crossed your lawyer knows something you don't cos otherwise that is a pretty big oversight on their part and I would think you would be well within your right to dispute their fees if that is the case.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 12:56pm |
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you may find that it is different if you are adopting a step child.
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caliandjack
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 1:34pm |
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DP is your partner though I would have thought the rules were different as you are already a family.
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sally belly
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 1:36pm |
You'd hope that would be the case or that is one silly silly loophole
Best of luck
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shellgirl
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 5:40pm |
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What the law says is:
Except in special circumstances, an adoption order shall not be made in respect of a child unless the applicant or, in the case of a joint application, one of the applicants—
(a) Has attained the age of 25 years and is at least 20 years older than the child; or
(b) Has attained the age of 20 years and is a relative of the child; or
(c) Is the mother or father of the child.
So if you are making a joint application (which in my experience is usually the case with step-parent adoptions), then only one of you needs to meet the above criteria, and you meet the mother of the child one.
Good Luck with getting this sorted.
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ellabellame
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Posted: 06 February 2010 at 8:56pm |
 shellgirl wrote:
What the law says is:
Except in special circumstances, an adoption order shall not be made in respect of a child unless the applicant or, in the case of a joint application, one of the applicants—
(a) Has attained the age of 25 years and is at least 20 years older than the child; or
(b) Has attained the age of 20 years and is a relative of the child; or
(c) Is the mother or father of the child.
So if you are making a joint application (which in my experience is usually the case with step-parent adoptions), then only one of you needs to meet the above criteria, and you meet the mother of the child one.
Good Luck with getting this sorted. |
oh awesome, thanks for that. it puts my mind at ease a bit. i still haven't heard back from my lawyer but it is the weekend after all so cross fingers it's all going to be ok.
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adoption, age limit??
