Rule 15.5 - Petition To Confirm Consent To Adoption, Including Stepparent AdoptionsAll written consents to adoption must be confirmed by Court prior to the entry of a final Adoption Decree.
(a) Form of Petition. Contents. The Petition to Confirm Consent shall include the following: (1) The names and addresses of the petitioners;(2) The names and addresses of the birth parents;(3) The date the child was relinquished to an agency or to an adult intending to adopt the child, the date that a report of intention to adopt was filed, and the date the consent to adoption was signed by the birth parent or parents. The original consent shall be attached to the petition or shall be part of prior pleadings; and(4) A statement of any further proceedings pending in the adoption.(b)Procedure.(1) The Petition to Confirm Consent shall be presented to the Family/Orphans Court Administrator to schedule a hearing. The hearing shall be scheduled not less than ten (10) days after the filing of the petition and not less than sixty (60) days after the filing of the consent to adoption, whichever is later.(2) Notice shall be in the form provided in 23 Pa. C.S.A. Sec 2513(b), and service shall be as provided in State 15.6. Notice shall be given to the birth parents and putative father, if applicable, and to the parents or guardians of a consenting parent who has not reached age 18.(3) Following hearing, the Court shall issue such decree as clearly sets forth that the consent to adoption is confirmed and that all rights of the consenting birth parent are terminated.(4) A Petition to Confirm Consent may be brought in the name of the attorney for adopting parents.(5) The Adoption petition shall be filed separately from Petition to Confirm Consent, Petition for Voluntary Relinquishment, or Petition for Involuntary Termination of Parent Rights, and may be filed simultaneously with any aforesaid Petition.(c)Hearing. At the hearing to confirm the consent the petitioner shall present such information as may be necessary to allow the Court to review the circumstances of the execution and the submission of all written consents to adoption so as to determine their validity. The Court shall then enter an order confirming or rejecting the written consent to adoption.