What do I bring to the adoption finalization hearing in Maine?

For your Maine finalization hearing, bring photo ID, your copy of the filed petition and supporting paperwork, and any court notice about the hearing. The Probate Court in your county handles the adoption, and its clerk can confirm exactly what the judge wants to see on your hearing date.

Documents to gather:

• Photo ID for you and your spouse.
• Your filed petition and every supporting document you submitted, so you can answer questions about what is in them.
• The hearing notice or any other letter you received from the Probate Court.
• The child's birth certificate and your marriage certificate. Bringing originals or certified copies is a sensible precaution, and the clerk can tell you whether the court wants them.
• Signed consent forms, if the other biological parent consented, plus any paperwork showing how that parent's rights were handled.
• A death certificate, if the other biological parent has died.

Paperwork that depends on your situation:

If the other parent has not consented because of abandonment, Maine's abandonment period is 6 months (18-C M.R.S. § 9-204; 22 M.R.S. § 4002(1-A)). Bring whatever you filed on that point. Contested cases and cases where a parent can't be found depend on the specific facts, so talk to the Probate Court clerk or an attorney about them.

What you don't need to prepare:

• Residency: Maine has no minimum residency period (18-C M.R.S. § 9-301), so you won't need proof of a waiting period.
• Home study: it is waived for stepparent adoptions (18-C M.R.S. § 9-304), so you won't be bringing a home-study report.

Who to bring:

• You and your spouse.
• Your child. Maine sets the child consent age at 12 (18-C M.R.S. § 9-302). If your child is 12 or older, ask the clerk how the court handles their consent at the hearing.
• Family and friends. Ask the clerk whether guests are welcome in the courtroom. If you want photos, ask the judge before taking any.

Nice extras:

• A phone or camera.
• A notebook and pen for the clerk's instructions.
• Questions for the clerk about how to get certified copies of the adoption order and what they cost.

After the hearing:

Once the judge signs the order, you'll want certified copies of it. Ask the clerk how to get them and what fees apply. Then contact the Maine Office of Vital Records about the new birth certificate, and use the certified order to update school, medical, and insurance records. Stepparent adoptions in Maine typically take 3-6 months from start to finish.

How we help:

StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your county. You then file it yourself, without an attorney. The cost is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. Your court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and they come with our 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 151 Maine families, and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.