Georgia Lawyer Handling Relative Adoptions

A child's well-being is of concern to more than just the biological parents. Are you a grandparent seeking to step in for an absent biological parent?

Attorney Sherriann H. Hicks has been helping grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives with family adoptions since 1995. She understands the legal aspects of these cases, as well as the emotional ones, and handles these matters with compassion and understanding.

If you are in the process of raising or caring for a child who is not your biological child and looking to obtain custody, become the child's legal guardians or to adopt, Sherriann can help.

With several years of experience working in Juvenile Court, Sherriann is very familiar with the Juvenile Court System. She understands deprivation law and the process by which one could become the legal guardian of a child they are raising. 

She understands that grandparents or relatives who are raising a child need to make their situation permanent and need to have the right to enroll the child in school and get the child medical attention if needed. Sherrriann will advise you of your rights and help you come up with solutions. She will be devoted to getting you the best possible outcome.

Adult Adoptions

Domestication of Foreign Decrees of Adoption

If you have chosen to adopt a child from a foreign country, you should have the foreign adoption decree domesticated once you return to the United States. Sherriann has handled hundreds of cases in which she has helped adoptive parents domesticate their foreign decrees of adoption or re-adopt children in the county of their residence. 

Once you domesticate the foreign decree of adoption, you will have a Georgia decree of adoption and a birth certificate written in the English language from Georgia Vital Records. This will help when it is time to enroll the child in school and extracurricular activities, as well as when it comes time to obtain a driver's license. In addition, the domestication will ensure that the adoptive child will be entitled to survivor's benefits from Social Security in this country.

Sherriann has helped numerous families domesticate foreign decrees of adoption in the United States. She understands that often families have spent thousands of dollars traveling to other countries to adopt a child and do not want to spend thousands of dollars to domesticate the adoption. Because she understands the process, she is able to handle these cases quickly and efficiently. As a result, her fees are very reasonable.