Showing posts with label lawyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lawyer. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2009
Attorney from heaven
So, we met with the attorney today and it went very well. He thinks the Adoption petition will go very smoothly since the kids are already U.S. citizens and Eddie already has guardianship. He's going to write up a draft of a Temporary Custody order for us to look over next week. The kids have to live with us for 6 months before the Adoption will be signed by a judge. And the best part of the meeting was when he told us that we will NOT have to pay ANY legal fees, only the court filing and vital records fees!!! How amazing is that?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Good news for in both categories!
Guardianship:
We can pay our lawyer in Ecuador now!!!!! The money for our loan came through on friday, so we can finally pay our Saint of a lawyer (I know that word in front of "lawyer" seems crazy, but it's true), who has done a lot for us already.
Citizenship:
Since we have the money from our loan, we paid up on friday and got the results. All six children are 99.7% - 99.9% likely to be half-siblings of Eddie (that's how the tests results are worded). This is fabulous news, because that means that the children have that same percentage likelyhood of having the same father as Eddie, which is what the tests were done to prove in the first place. Since we are claiming their right to U.S. citizenship through their U.S. citizen father. We needed to prove that they were his and the consulate wouldn't accept just their birth certificates with his name and signature on them as full proof (because their mother wasn't married to their father. Now we just need the consulates legal office to officially accept the use of Eddie as the representative for the father's DNA and give us some sort of document stating that they accept, so we can proceed to trying up any more loose ends before we schedule a date to fly down there to Guayaquil.
Guardianship:
We can pay our lawyer in Ecuador now!!!!! The money for our loan came through on friday, so we can finally pay our Saint of a lawyer (I know that word in front of "lawyer" seems crazy, but it's true), who has done a lot for us already.
Citizenship:
Since we have the money from our loan, we paid up on friday and got the results. All six children are 99.7% - 99.9% likely to be half-siblings of Eddie (that's how the tests results are worded). This is fabulous news, because that means that the children have that same percentage likelyhood of having the same father as Eddie, which is what the tests were done to prove in the first place. Since we are claiming their right to U.S. citizenship through their U.S. citizen father. We needed to prove that they were his and the consulate wouldn't accept just their birth certificates with his name and signature on them as full proof (because their mother wasn't married to their father. Now we just need the consulates legal office to officially accept the use of Eddie as the representative for the father's DNA and give us some sort of document stating that they accept, so we can proceed to trying up any more loose ends before we schedule a date to fly down there to Guayaquil.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Status Update:
Citizenship:
In order for the children's to obtain U.S. citizenship via their deceased
father, they have to be "legitimized". Since the parents were not married and father is not alive to legally claim the children, the Consulate is requiring that the kid's relationship to their citizen father be proven by DNA testing. Two months ago we were told that all we needed were their Ecuadorian birth certificates, since he had signed each of them, therefore claiming paternity. So, we need to prove that the kids have their father's DNA. Since we don't want to exhume the father's body in Ecuador, the testing company says we should be able to simply prove that they are Eddie's half-siblings. Though the legal department has not yet formally approved that route, we've gone ahead with testing. The only problem we think they would have with the plan is if they won't accept Eddie's birth certificate as enough proof that he too has the DNA of the father. But, since it is not his parentage that is required to be proven (because he is not applying for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad) for their citizenship, we really hope they will accept his parentage as fact.
Sooooo, last saturday Eddie, two of his full-siblings, and their Mother were all tested. The lab will map out their DNA, then subtract their Mother's contribution to create a "Reconstruction" (as they called it) of the Father's DNA. That will then be compared to the children's mapping. If the results aren't conclusive, we will test the children's mother's side of the family to be able to reconstruct her contribution and subtract it from their maps (like they'll do for Eddie's family). Right now all we're waiting on is FedEx to deliver the sample kits to the consulate in Ecuador to that the kid's can be brought down there (6 hours away) to have their cheek swabs done. The package was sent 14 days ago and has been stuck in customs awaiting "clearance" since the 13th! Customs will not tell FedEx how much longer it will be. So, we just have to wait. This testing put us behind schedule by a month with the best case scenario, now it looks like it will be two more months. With our 18th birthday deadline to have the citizenship secured for the oldest girl looming ahead (in Feb.), we are getting worried.
Guardianship:
Our lawyer in Ecuador is waiting for Eddie's Power of Attorney paperwork to be returned to her, along with his translated birth certificate and U.S. driver license with Apostilles. She can't begin to file anything without them. He's sent everything to the Ecuadorian consulate in LA that they need to create that document. They told him to call them the day after he sent it (a week ago) to schedule a day to fly out there to sign it, but he cannot get through to anyone there now!
Citizenship:
In order for the children's to obtain U.S. citizenship via their deceased
father, they have to be "legitimized". Since the parents were not married and father is not alive to legally claim the children, the Consulate is requiring that the kid's relationship to their citizen father be proven by DNA testing. Two months ago we were told that all we needed were their Ecuadorian birth certificates, since he had signed each of them, therefore claiming paternity. So, we need to prove that the kids have their father's DNA. Since we don't want to exhume the father's body in Ecuador, the testing company says we should be able to simply prove that they are Eddie's half-siblings. Though the legal department has not yet formally approved that route, we've gone ahead with testing. The only problem we think they would have with the plan is if they won't accept Eddie's birth certificate as enough proof that he too has the DNA of the father. But, since it is not his parentage that is required to be proven (because he is not applying for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad) for their citizenship, we really hope they will accept his parentage as fact.
Sooooo, last saturday Eddie, two of his full-siblings, and their Mother were all tested. The lab will map out their DNA, then subtract their Mother's contribution to create a "Reconstruction" (as they called it) of the Father's DNA. That will then be compared to the children's mapping. If the results aren't conclusive, we will test the children's mother's side of the family to be able to reconstruct her contribution and subtract it from their maps (like they'll do for Eddie's family). Right now all we're waiting on is FedEx to deliver the sample kits to the consulate in Ecuador to that the kid's can be brought down there (6 hours away) to have their cheek swabs done. The package was sent 14 days ago and has been stuck in customs awaiting "clearance" since the 13th! Customs will not tell FedEx how much longer it will be. So, we just have to wait. This testing put us behind schedule by a month with the best case scenario, now it looks like it will be two more months. With our 18th birthday deadline to have the citizenship secured for the oldest girl looming ahead (in Feb.), we are getting worried.
Guardianship:
Our lawyer in Ecuador is waiting for Eddie's Power of Attorney paperwork to be returned to her, along with his translated birth certificate and U.S. driver license with Apostilles. She can't begin to file anything without them. He's sent everything to the Ecuadorian consulate in LA that they need to create that document. They told him to call them the day after he sent it (a week ago) to schedule a day to fly out there to sign it, but he cannot get through to anyone there now!
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