Knoxville, TN Adoption Lawyers

Legal Help with the Adoption Process

When you are preparing to bring a new child into your life, the legal aspects of adoption may be daunting. We at Menefee & Brown can handle the legal details for you while you concentrate on preparing to receive a new member into your family.

Most adoptive parents must undergo a home study, and the natural parents must also execute a surrender of parental rights or consent to the adoption. It is a complex process designed to avoid fraud and abuse. But with the help of an adoption attorney in Knoxville, TN, it can go smoothly.

Contested Adoptions

Not all adoptions take place with the consent of the natural parent(s). In cases where a relative or other caregiver seeks to wrest parental authority from an allegedly unfit parent, the process can be contentious. A client pursuing such an adoption must usually file a court petition seeking to terminate parental or guardianship rights.

Such a petition must allege grounds for the termination of parental rights, including:

• Abandonment
• Noncompliance with a permanency plan
• Severe abuse or neglect
• Incarceration of the parents
• Mental incompetence

Get a Seasoned Adoption Attorney on Your Side

At Menefee & Brown, our team of Knoxville adoption lawyers put our clients first. We understand that adoptions, both contested and uncontested, can be emotionally sensitive. For this reason, our team strives to be sympathetic to our clients' family law needs and to keep them informed as their cases develop.