Section 5-3B-18 – Time Limit
A court may not enter an order for adoption under this subtitle until expiration of the revocation period.
Section 5-3B-19 – Considerations
(a) In ruling on a petition for a prospective adoptee’s adoption under this subtitle, a court shall consider: (1) all factors necessary to determine the prospective adoptee’s best interests; and (2) any report prepared for the court. (b) (1) (i) In this subsection, “disability” means: 1. a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of an individual’s major life […]
Section 5-3B-20 – Authority to Grant Adoption
A court may enter an order for adoption only if: (1) (i) 1. each of the prospective adoptee’s living parents consents: A. in writing; or B. by failure to timely file notice of objection after being served with a show–cause order in accordance with this subtitle; 2. an administrative, executive, or judicial body of a state or other jurisdiction has granted […]
Section 5-3B-21 – Consent
(a) (1) Consent of a parent may include a waiver of rights to notice of: (i) the filing of a petition under this subtitle; and (ii) further proceedings under this subtitle. (2) Consent to adoption under this subtitle is not valid unless the consent: (i) is given after the prospective adoptee is born; (ii) is given in a language that the party […]
Section 5-3B-22 – Nonconsensual Adoption
(a) This section applies only if a parent affirmatively withholds consent by filing a notice of objection. (b) (1) A court may allow adoption, without parental consent otherwise required under this subtitle, by a petitioner who has exercised physical care, control, or custody over the prospective adoptee for at least 180 days, if the court finds by clear […]
Section 5-3B-05 – Paternity
(a) Unless a court excludes a man as the father of a child, a man is the father if: (1) the man was married to the child’s mother at the time of the child’s conception; (2) the man was married to the child’s mother at the time of the child’s birth; (3) the man is named as the father […]
Section 5-3B-23 – Custody
A court may not grant a petition under § 5-3B-22 of this subtitle solely because a parent: (1) does not have legal custody of a prospective adoptee by reason of a divorce or legal separation; or (2) has been deprived of custody of a prospective adoptee by an act of the other parent.
Section 5-3B-06 – Appointed Counsel
(a) (1) In a case under this subtitle, a court shall appoint an attorney to represent a parent who: (i) has a disability that makes the parent incapable of effectively participating in the case; or (ii) when the parent must decide whether to consent to adoption, is still a minor. (2) To determine whether a disability makes a parent incapable […]
Section 5-3B-24 – Accounting
(a) This section does not apply to an adoption by the spouse of the prospective adoptee’s parent or a relative of the prospective adoptee. (b) A court may not enter an order under this subtitle until the petitioner files with the court an accounting of all payments and disbursements of any item of value made by or […]
Section 5-3B-07 – Agreement for Postadoption Contact
(a) (1) A prospective adoptive parent and parent of a prospective adoptee may enter into a written agreement to allow contact, after the adoption, between: (i) the parent or other relative of the adoptee; and (ii) the adoptee and adoptive parent. (2) An adoptive parent and former parent of an adoptee under this subtitle may enter into a written agreement […]