13.26 Assisting the Adoptive Family's Attorney in Finalizing the Adoption of a DCBS Child

Legal Authority

Cabinet for Health and Family Services (Cabinet/CHFS) staff cannot recommend a specific attorney or law firm for purposes of finalizing an adoption.

Obtaining the adopted child’s new birth certificate:

If the adopted child was born in Kentucky, the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics prepares a new birth certificate upon receipt of notice from the circuit court clerk that the adoption has been finalized.
The new birth certificate is issued in the child’s adoptive name, listing the adoptive parent as the child’s parents, and indicating the adoptive parent’s county of residence as the child’s county of birth.
The child’s original birth certificate is sealed from the date of the judgment of adoption and can only be released through a court order.
After the adoption judgment has been granted, the circuit court clerk sends the completed VS-102 form with the child’s adoptive name and the names of the adoptive parents to the Division of Vital Statistics.
The fee for the new birth certificate and request for a copy may be forwarded to the Division of Vital Statistics by the circuit court clerk with the VS-102 form, or separately by the petitioner’s attorney or by the petitioners themselves.
The new birth certificate is then issued.
To obtain the new birth certificate for a child born out-of-state, the circuit court clerk sends the VS-102 with the appropriate fee to the vital statistics office in the child’s state of birth.
The address of the out-of-state vital statistics offices can be obtained from the Adoption Services Branch.

The FSOS provides the following information to the adoptive family’s attorney for Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) children for whom a DPP-195 Adoptive Placement Agreement has been signed by all applicable parties:

A certified copy of the order and judgment terminating parental rights after the child's name and date of birth have been verified or the certified wardship order for applicable cases as outlined in SOP 11.10; 1
The child’s birth name;
The child's birth date;
The child's state of birth; and
An explanation that the DPP-215 Consent to the Adoption is filed with the report to the court after completion of the post-placement services.

If a discrepancy is noted, the Office of Legal Services is notified and prepares an amended order. (A certified copy of the amended order is provided to the family's attorney).