North Dakota Code 14-15.1-03 – Petition for relinquishment – Hearing – Temporary custody order – Notice – Order for relinquishment
1. The court shall set a time and place for a hearing on the petition for relinquishment. A guardian ad litem must be appointed for the child at least seven days prior to the hearing. The hearing may not be held sooner than forty-eight hours after the child’s birth or the signing of all necessary consents to adoption, whichever is later. If a report of a child-placing agency is filed with the petition pursuant to section 14-15.1-04, the court may enter a temporary order placing the child with the identified adoptive parent pending the hearing.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 14-15.1-03
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37
2. Notice of the hearing must be served on or by any birth parent, the department, the child-placing agency, the identified adoptive parent, and the guardian ad litem.
3. The court may require any birth parent to appear personally and enter consent to the adoption on the record. The court shall determine that any written consent has been validly executed. If the court determines it is in the best interests of the child, the court shall approve the petition for relinquishment.
4. If the court approves the petition and determines, based upon the report of the child-placing agency and other evidence presented at the hearing, that placement with the identified adoptive parent is in the best interests of the child, the court shall:
a. Enter an order terminating the relationship of the birth parent and the child; b. Order that the child be placed with the identified adoptive parent pending adoption; c. Order supervision by a child-placing agency until the adoption is finalized; d. Order the identified adoptive parent financially responsible for the support of the child until further order of the court; and
e. Make a finding regarding the reasonableness of expenses reported under section 14-15.1-05.