Marietta has been taking care of her three-year-old grandson and seven-year-old granddaughter for their entire lives. They were both abandoned by their biological mother and have never known their fathers. Wanting to formalize her relationship with them, Marietta reached out to CVLS for representation in an adoption case.
She met with attorneys at our community-based legal clinic at Legal Prep Charter Academy in the Garfield Park neighborhood. Her case was placed with a duo of lawyers from Ropes & Gray LLP, Olivia Volpe and Samantha Wheeler, who took the case pro bono. The team filed a double-adoption case, hoping to help Marietta finalize her adoption of the grandkids.
Olivia and Sam investigated the whereabouts of the biological mother and properly served the unknown legal fathers of the children. Neither party contested the adoption, and Olivia and Sam were able to move forward with Marietta’s case. Last month, the Court found the adoption to be in the children’s best interests, entered an adoption judgment, and authorized a change of the children’s last names to match Marietta’s.
Although Marietta had guardianship of the children prior to this case, the adoption was important both legally and emotionally. Adoptions are notoriously document-intensive and are often too complicated for a self-represented litigant. With Olivia and Sam by Marietta’s side, there was nothing to fear.
