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Vt. Stat. tit. 15A § 3-703
Vermont
Statutes
Title
Fifteen (A). Adoption Act
Article
3. General Procedure for Adoption
Part
7. Dispositional Hearing; Decree of Adoption
§
3-703 Granting petition for adoption
(a) The court shall grant
a petition for adoption if it determines by a preponderance of the evidence
that the adoption will be in the best interest of the minor, and that:
(1) the adoptee has been
in the physical custody of the petitioner for at least 180 days unless
the court for good cause shown waives this requirement;
(2) notice of the proceeding
for adoption has been served or dispensed with as to any person entitled
to receive notice under Part 4 of this article;
(3) every necessary consent,
relinquishment, waiver, disclaimer of paternal interest, judicial order
terminating parental rights, including an order issued under
Part 5 of this article, or other document has been obtained and filed
with the court;
(4) any evaluation required
by this title has been filed with and considered by the court;
(5) the petitioner is
a suitable adoptive parent for the minor;
(6) if applicable, any
requirement of this title governing an interstate or intercountry placement
for adoption has been met;
(7) the Indian Child Welfare
Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901 et seq., is not applicable to the proceeding
or, if applicable, its requirements have been met;
(8) an accounting and
affidavit required by section 3-702 of this title has been reviewed by
the court, and the court has denied, modified, or ordered reimbursement
of any payment or disbursement that is not authorized by Article 7 of
this title or is unreasonable or unnecessary when compared with the expenses
customarily incurred in connection with an adoption; and
(9)
the petitioner has received each report required by section 2-105 of this
title.
(b) Notwithstanding a
finding by the court that an activity prohibited by this title has occurred,
if the court makes the determinations required by subsection (a) of this
section, the court shall grant the petition for adoption and report the
violation to the appropriate authorities or take other appropriate action.
(c) Except as otherwise
provided in Article 4 of this title, the court shall inform the petitioner
and any other person affected by an existing order for visitation or communication
with the minor adoptee that the decree of adoption terminates any existing
order for visitation or communication.
-- Added 1995, No. 161
(Adj. Sess.), § 1.
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