JURISDICTION FOR ADOPTION
June 14, 2010 § 1 Comment
Effective July 1, 2007, Mississippi’s adoption statute was amended to change the residency requirement from 90 days to six months.
§ 93-17-3, MCA, sets out the jurisdictional requirements, which now read more like the UCCJEA than like the old, familiar adoption statutes. There are now jurisdictional requirements about availability in the state of information about the child, licensure of any adoption agency involved, and pendency of any adoption or custody proceeding in another state.
PRACTICE TIP: Get into your computers and add all of the statutory language verbatim into your adoption Complaint forms. Then, when preparing your pleadings, strip out what does not apply.
Most judges I have spoken with agree that if the jurisdictional and other statutory language is not included in your Complaint, you will have to start over, which may include obtaining a second Consent or Joinder.
At least twice a month I have to point these matters out to attorneys. Don’t embarass yourself with a client by being one of them.
The Better Chancery Practice Blog 
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