South Carolina Code 63-9-510. Temporary placement and custody of adoptee
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 63-9-510
- Adoptee: means a person who is proposed to be or who has been legally adopted. See South Carolina Code 63-9-30
- Adoption: means the judicial act of creating the relationship of parent and child where it did not exist previously. See South Carolina Code 63-9-30
- agency: means the State Department of Social Services and any person or entity who holds legal or physical custody of a child for the purpose of placement for adoption or a person or entity who facilitates the placement of children for the purpose of adoption. See South Carolina Code 63-9-30
- Child: means any person under eighteen years of age. See South Carolina Code 63-9-30
- Court: means any family court in this State. See South Carolina Code 63-9-30
Once a petitioner has received the adoptee into his home and a petition for adoption has been filed, the petitioner has temporary custody of the adoptee and is responsible for the care, maintenance, and support of the adoptee, including necessary medical or surgical treatment, except as provided in Article 7. A postplacement investigation and report of this investigation pursuant to § 63-9-520 must be completed before the final hearing. Unless the adoptee is removed pursuant to Subarticle 3, Article 3, Chapter 7, when adoptive parents have received the adoptee into their home for the purpose of adoption but no petition has been filed pursuant to § 63-9-710, the child-placing agency shall secure an order from the family court before removal of the child from the adoptive parents. At the hearing the burden of proof is on the child-placing agency to prove that continued placement with the adoptive family is not in the adoptee’s best interest.