Potential Nightmare

I am not one to complain about government efficiency, good or bad. The powers are going to operate as they do and there is very little we can do to change that. You can't fight city hall...

With the relocation of my daughter, she had to register for school and some paperwork was missing to get her properly sign in. So I went to get a copy of part of her adoption from the local probate. I gave them the details, including the date of the proceeding, and they could not locate the document I was asking for. After an exhausting 90 minute search the decree was found (under her brother's name), and paying just a mere $10, I was given a certified copy.

We are good right? Well, we need to prevent this from happening again.

So..., I asked about why the state never certified her foreign adoption and that the state said the probate court was the hold up. Once again after a shorter exasperating search we found the cover of the documents, but no accompanying paperwork. Because someone misplaced the necessary documents it was never processed. It should also be noted that the court never notified us that we were missing important parts for this to be completed.

Move ahead one week...while cleaning out a box of papers, I found the original rejection from the state for certifying her foreign birth and adoption. I also read the cover document that I was given and noticed that the box was checked that all appropriate paperwork was filed and it had a stamp received with a date one month or more prior to our hearing. If it was incomplete why would they have moved forward with the hearing?

Back down to the court, point out the issue, along with presentation of state filing. Still need the paperwork that is missing, even though they accepted and have misplaced, and then I can start the process all over again 9 years later and for a low low fee of $225, instead of the previous $45 that was paid the first time...

To be continued...

<In case anyone is wondering why this is important for my daughter, without it she may not be able to get a driver's license, financial aid for college, a marriage license, any professional license for that matter...irony of it all, she has a US Passport and became a US citizen the moment she landed on US territory>