Readoption update

As previously posted, we met with the master of the circuit court in our county in December for our readoption hearing for Kevin. We were glad to have the hearing in 2005 so that we could file for our adoption tax credit this year but we still weren't sure whether we'd receive the paperwork in time for that. Lo and behold, we received the official adoption decree dated 2005! We were all set except that Kevin's name change wasn't listed correctly on the decree. This was a big deal as we want to legally change his middle name from his birth middle name to his birth last name (with our last name as his last name.)

I found out that in order to correct the adoption decree from the court, we'd have to file an order to have the paperwork corrected. This meant that the date of the adoption decree would then be 2006. That wasn't good for us considering that we need that tax credit in order to begin considering paying the fees for child #2 at some point.

After a few moments of pure indignation, I realized that I could file our taxes first and THEN file the order to have Kevin's name in the decree changed correctly. So I felt ok about it but was still miffed.

When we filed our readoption petition to the court, we also had to request (and pay for) a Maryland birth certificate to be filed for Kevin and a copy sent to us. Last week we received the copies* and what name was on them? The correct one!

Now I need to figure out whether I still need to get the decree fixed or not. I don't recall what documentation I need to get Kevin's Certificate of Citizenship and to have his Social Security record changed (his name and his citizenship status from permanent resident to citizen) but if I need the decree, I might need the names to match exactly. We'll see.

*Note: If you've wondered, as we did, what would a Maryland birth certificate be doing for a child born in another country and what would it say if such a thing existed, then here's some info for you. It is an official Certificate of Live Birth from the State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. It has his current name, DOB, sex, and birth location (Guatemala) and it has our info as his parents. The labels of all other boxes on the form are "X"ed out and their values are blank. This is the birth certificate that we are supposed to be able to use when applying Kevin to school, sports programs, etc.