The petitioner shall file an adoption petition, under oath, with the Specialized Family Part of the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico corresponding to the place of residence of the adopting party. Said petition shall contain the following:
(1) The adoption shall be effected through judicial authorization, after the submission of the corresponding petition by the adopting party, motu proprio or through his/her legal representative.
The petition for adoption shall be filed under oath with the Specialized Family Part of the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico corresponding to the place of residence of the minor, and it shall contain the following:
(a) The name of the adopting party and the names of the biological parents of the minor to be adopted, as well as their respective addresses and telephone numbers.
(b) The necessary allegations accrediting that the adoption is convenient to the best interests of the minor, as well as its convenience and necessity.
(c) The name of the adoptee as it appears in his/her birth certificate and the name proposed for his/her new certificate.
(d) The personal circumstances of the adopter, which shall also include [furthermore], his/her Social Security number, residential address, mailing address, telephone number, name and address of the employer, location of company or place of business, source of income, pensions or earnings, as the case may be, as well as the circumstances attesting to his/her moral [character] and financial solvency.
(e) Name and last residential and mailing address of the biological parents of the adoptee from whose paternity [the] latter is to be removed.
(f) Information concerning the legal and de facto custody of the adoptee in case the latter is a minor.
This shall include information with regard to the prior relationship existing between the adoptee and the adopter, which, after being corroborated and analyzed on its merits, may be considered as a fundamental element to establish priority in the adoptive parents selection process.
To such effects, it shall include, but without being limited to, the following:
(A) Relationship by ties of consanguinity, or affinity, or through the provisional custody authorized by the Department of the Family or by a competent court.
(B) The period the adoptee lived with the adopter, the motive and duration thereof.
(C) Financial contributions and of any other nature the adopter has made to the physical, emotional and intellectual improvement of the adoptee, among others.
(g) A list of the documents which shall accompany the petition, among which the following shall be included or their unavailability justified:
(A) Birth certificates of the adopter and the adoptee.
(B) Civil status certificates of the adopter and the adoptee.
(C) Criminal record certificate of the adopter.
(D) Written consent of the biological parent or parents when the latter are available.
(E) Report [of] the expert social study for the adjudication of the adoption, in case it is available.
(F) Motion on the issues and proposed resolution in uncontested cases.
(G) Proposed new birth certificate.
(H) A negative debt certification from the Child Support Administration (ASUME, Spanish acronym).
(h) Evidence of prior notice of a copy of the adoption file to the Family Relations Advocate and the corresponding Office of the Department of the Family.
(2) Adoption proceedings may be conducted simultaneously with any other court proceedings concerning the minor. Such proceedings may also be conducted at the same time when deciding over several candidates for adoption with the same parents.
History —Jan. 19, 1995, No. 9, § 3; Aug. 12, 1996, No. 127, § 1; Sept. 23, 2004, No. 476, § 1; Dec. 18, 2009, No. 186, § 35, eff. 30 days after Dec. 18, 2009.