tion of the adoption. The agreement is limited in duration to the child’s minor- ity. Most importantly, if the adoptive parents fail to comply with the terms of the agreement such non-compliance does not constitute grounds to set aside the adoption, but the agreement may be enforced so long as it is in the adoptee’s best interests. 2 The code revision also streamlined the
Show Cause Order process. Historically, service by publication was granted due to the inability to identify or locate a parent, the petitioner had to publish the entire Show Cause Order in a newspaper (Fam- ily Law, Section 5-322(c)(3)(2004)). This could be exceedingly costly.3
The new 3
In one case this writer was required to publish in a newspaper in Flint, Michigan. It cost $1200.00! While all publications are not this expensive, under the prior Code this created an unnecessary expense to Petitioners and often resulted in what was clearly a boon to newspapers.
statute changed this by requiring notice by publication as a succinct paragraph giving the parent only what they need to know to protect their rights: that a case was filed regarding a certain child born to the parents; the date of birth; and, that he or she will lose their parental rights if they fail to file a Notice of Ob- jection by a certain date with a certain court (Sections 5-316(f), 5-3A-15(f), 5-3B-15(f)). Consequently, petitioners now are required to spend less than a hundred dollars in most cases to achieve proper notice. Additionally, in an effort to move the
code into the future, the legislation also included language that for the first time required the petitioner to have the short notice placed on a Department of Hu- man Resources website for publication there. Id. This was intended to give bet-
4 A more in depth review will reveal many
other subtle changes too numerous to describe here.
ter notice to a parent and to determine the efficacy of publication by way of the Internet with the hope that at some point in the future, publication by these means could be substituted for notice in newspapers. Other changes included recognizing
the growing population of non-English speaking persons in Maryland. For the first time, consents of parents were required to be in a language that the par- ent understands (Sections 5-321(a)(3), 5-3A-19(a)(2), 5-3B-21(a)(2)). It also made inroads into the often burden- some 30-day period that parents have been given to revoke their consent after they have consented to guardianship or adoption. In a public agency guardian- ship, the parent can now give a consent before a judge that becomes irrevo- cable with the parent having no further rights of revocation of consent (Section 5-321(a)(2)). In private agency guard- ianships and independent adoptions, the revision also eliminated the 30-day
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Winter 2008
Trial Reporter
49
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