2006 Code of Virginia § 63.2-1201 - Filing of petition for adoption; venue; jurisdiction; and proceedings

63.2-1201. Filing of petition for adoption; venue; jurisdiction; andproceedings.

Proceedings for the adoption of a minor child and for a change of name ofsuch child shall be instituted only by petition to a circuit court in thecounty or city in which the petitioner resides, in the county or city inwhich the child-placing agency that placed the child is located, or in thecounty or city in which a birth parent executed a consent pursuant to 63.2-1233. Such petition may be filed by any natural person who resides inthe Commonwealth, or who has custody of a child placed by a child-placingagency of the Commonwealth, or by an adopting parent of a child who wassubject to a consent proceeding held pursuant to 63.2-1233, or by intendedparents who are parties to a surrogacy contract. The petition shall ask leaveto adopt a minor child not legally the petitioner's by birth and, if it is sodesired by the petitioner, also to change the name of such child. In the caseof married persons, the petition shall be the joint petition of the husbandand wife but, in the event the child to be adopted is legally the child bybirth or adoption of one of the petitioners, such petitioner shall unite inthe petition for the purpose of indicating consent to the prayer thereofonly. The petition shall contain a full disclosure of the circumstances underwhich the child came to live, and is living, in the home of the petitioner.Each petition for adoption shall be signed by the petitioner as well as bycounsel of record, if any. In any case in which the petition seeks the entryof an adoption order without referral for investigation, the petition shallbe under oath.

A single petition for adoption under the provisions of this section shall besufficient for the concurrent adoption by the same petitioners of two or morechildren who have the same birth parent or parents, and nothing in thissection shall be construed as having heretofore required a separate petitionfor each of such children.

(Effective July 1, 2007) The petition for adoption, except those filedpursuant to subdivisions 5 and 6 of 63.2-1210, shall include an additional$50 filing fee that shall be used to fund the Putative Father Registryestablished in Article 7 ( 63.2-1249 et seq.) of this chapter.

(Code 1950, 63-348; 1952, c. 550; 1954, c. 489; 1956, c. 300; 1964, c. 459;1968, c. 578, 63.1-221; 1970, c. 672; 1973, c. 406; 1975, c. 461; 1978, c.730; 1983, c. 614; 1988, c. 882; 1989, c. 647; 1991, cc. 76, 602; 1995, cc.772, 826; 2000, c. 830, 63.1-219.9; 2002, c. 747; 2006, cc. 825, 848.)