Pennsylvania Adoption Law: Start to Finish

Family Law

PA Specific

Pennsylvania Adoption Law: Start to Finish

Credits Available

Credit	Status	Total	Until
Delaware CLE	Approved	6 Total	04-10-2027
New Jersey CLE	Approved	7.2 Total	01-10-2026
New York CLE	Approved	7 Total	04-10-2028
Pennsylvania CLE	Approved	6 Total	04-10-2027

OnDemand

5 hours 54 minutes

With Deborah E. Spivack + others

Recorded April 10, 2025

Product ID 100166

Overview

Ensure a Smooth Path to a New Life

Adoption is an emotional process for all the parties involved. Are you prepared to assist and guide your clients through this highly emotional time in their lives? Whether you represent the birth parents or the adoptive parents, our faculty will update you on the latest adoption laws, help you understand various procedures and requirements, and give you the background you need to handle adoption cases without unnecessary delays, ethical problems, or surprises. Register today!

Get all the adoption assistance available for your clients, including tax credits.
Advise wisely on the differences between private placements and agency adoptions.
Comply with the notice and consent requirements for terminating parental rights.
Ensure clients are adhering to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.
Know your role in the interplay between social worker and guardians ad litem during the adoption process.
Prepare for problems such as third-party challenges and dissolution of adoption.
Advise clients knowledgeably with an understanding of current adoption law.
Tackle sensitive ethical issues and other problems that are unique in adoption situations.

Abbreviated Agenda

The Essentials of Adoption Law
Resolving Interstate Adoption Issues
Procedures for Terminating Parental Rights
Offering the Different Adoption Options
Legal Ethics
Practical Guide Through the Adoption Process
What to Do if Something Goes Wrong

Agenda

All times are shown in

The Essentials of Adoption Law
1. Understanding the Definitions: Who May be Adopted
2. Who May Adopt: Criteria and Qualifications
3. Obtaining Adoption Assistance
4. Helping Calculate Adoption Tax Credits
5. Adhering to Federal Laws Affecting Adoptions
Resolving Interstate Adoption Issues
1. What is the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)?
2. Dealing with Conflicts Between State Laws
3. Navigating Multistate Adoption Procedures
Procedures for Terminating Parental Rights
1. General Requirements That Need to be Considered
2. Obtaining Confirmed Consent and Surrender of Birth Parents
3. Properly Dealing with Notice Requirements
4. Observing Guidelines Governing Involuntary Termination
5. Where Complaints May be Filed
6. Issues Handled by State Common Pleas Courts
7. When Default Proceedings May Move Forward
Offering the Different Adoption Options
1. What Are Private Placement Adoptions?
2. How Agency Adoptions Work
3. Venue: Why It's so Important
4. The Crucial Element of Consent
5. When and How to Use Independent Options
6. Circumstances for When it's Appropriate to Adopt an Adult
7. Guidelines for Adopting Relatives
8. Understanding Stepparent Adoptions
9. Examining and Ensuring Foster Parent Rights
Legal Ethics
1. Client/Lawyer Relationship
2. Attorneys' Fees
3. Malpractice Concerns
Practical Guide Through the Adoption Process
1. Preparation of Pre- and Post-Placement Reports
2. The Interrelated Roles of Social Worker and Attorney
3. Determining Fees and Expenses
4. How to Conduct a Thorough Background Check
5. The Adoption Home Study: A Look into the Reality
6. Working with Birth Parents: What You Need to Do
7. State and Local Services Available to All Parties Involved
8. Medical Care and Insurance Coverage for Birth Mother and Child
9. Responsibilities of the Guardian Ad Litem
10. Open Adoption and Determining the Degree of Contact
11. Unique Considerations When Adopting Children With Disabilities
What to Do if Something Goes Wrong
1. Rights of the Biological Parents vs. Adoptive Parents: Who Takes Precedence?
2. Proving a Parent is Unfit in Contested Adoptions
3. Tackling Third-Party Challenges
4. Procedures for Dissolution of Adoption
5. Withdrawal of Consent? What to do Next
6. Correctly Handling an Appeal of the Adoption Decree

Who Should Attend

This basic-to-intermediate level online seminar is designed for professionals who want to learn more about adoption laws and proceedings. Those who should attend include:

Attorneys
Paralegals
Adoption Agency Employees
Social Workers
Counselors

Speakers

Deborah E.

Spivack

Gerri L.

Sperling

Strassburger McKenna Gutnick Gefsky

Deborah E.

Crum

Smigel, Anderson & Sacks, LLP

Speaker bio

Deborah E. Spivack

Deborah Spivack

is owner of Law Offices of Deborah E. Spivack based in southern New Jersey. Her practice focuses exclusively on adoption and family planning in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Ms. Spivack has extensive experience representing adopting parents, birth parents, agencies and children (upon appointment by a court) in a broad range of adoption matters, including those which are private/independent, agency, identified, stepparent, second parent, guardian, legal custodian adoptions, or adoptions by individuals standing in loco parentis to the child, as well as adoptions of foreign-born children present in the United States. Many of these adoption cases have complex legal issues such as interstate placements, adoption subsidy, non-participating or contesting parties, international parties, immigration problems, Indian Child Welfare Act implications, state child protective services, and special needs or older children. She also has extensive experience in assisted reproductive technology law matters. Ms. Spivack frequently represents intended parents, gestational carriers, donors or donees of sperm, eggs, or embryos in drafting assisted reproductive technology agreements to protect their rights and in pursuing court orders explicitly recognizing parental status before and after the birth of a child to ensure legal permanency. Additionally, she is a fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA), a membership-by-invitation-only association of 470 attorneys, law professors, and judges in the United States and throughout the world who are recognized as having extensive experience in the practice of adoption law, ART law, or both. AAAA Fellows ascribe to a practice-specific code of ethics that fosters best practices in adoption and assisted reproductive technology law. She earned her B.S. degree, cum laude, in business from Pennsylvania State University and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from Widener School of Law. Ms. Spivack is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

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Speaker bio

Gerri L. Sperling

Strassburger McKenna Gutnick Gefsky

Gerri Sperling

is of counsel with Strassburger McKenna Gutnick and Gefsky, where she brings over thirty years of experience to her diverse practice areas, including health law, employer-employee relations, and adoptions, guardianship and surrogacy. Ms. Sperling's vast background in health law includes assisting health insurers, hospitals, and other healthcare providers in drafting and reviewing employment, service, and vendor contracts; advising on regulatory matters; and litigating provider and coverage disputes in federal and state courts. Her employment law experience includes drafting and implementing personnel policies; drafting and reviewing restrictive covenant and other employment agreements; reviewing severance packages and executive compensation packages for employees; preparing severance agreements on behalf of employers; representing employers in defending discrimination claims and wage and hour claims, and most importantly, advising clients how to avoid those claims in the first instance. Finally, Ms. Sperling gains her greatest fulfillment helping individuals become families through her work in adoption, guardianship, and surrogacy. She has handled over 1,000 adoption cases, including domestic, international, and stepparent adoptions. Related to her adoption practice, Ms. Sperling has obtained experience with guardianships and surrogacy. Her experience as an adoptive parent informs her adoption practice; knowing what her clients are experiencing gives her invaluable insight into the process. Ms. Sperling earned her B.A. degree, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. degree from Boston University School of Law. She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Association. Ms. Sperling is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit, and U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania.

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Yes, the more people you bring from your organization, the more you save. After the first registration, each additional attendee receives a special discount off of their total tuition.

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