Rule 415 - Documentation Required to Adopt(a)Before the Hearing. No later than 10 days before the finalization of an adoption, the petitioner must provide to the court the following documents, if applicable:(1) a copy of the birth certificate of the child to be adopted;(2) a notarized affidavit signed by the birth mother identifying all potential fathers of the child as provided by law;(3) an affidavit that a search of paternity filings was conducted;(4) a certificate from the Department of Health Services signed by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics stating that a diligent search has been made of the putative fathers registry for notices of claims of paternity from potential fathers, and the results of the search;(5) the affidavit of service of process upon all potential fathers as provided by A.R.S. § 8-106;(6) an affidavit of compliance from an attorney or agency as provided by A.R.S § 8130;(7) a verified accounting required by A.R.S § 8-114, unless the prospective adoptive parent is the child's stepparent;(8) any birth parent's notarized statement as described in A.R.S. § 8-106; a contact preference form as described in A.R.S. § 36-340; and a notarized statement from any birth parent granting or denying permission to be informed of the death of the child;(9) the original agreement between the birth parent and prospective adoptive parent regarding future communications among the parties, as provided by A.R.S. § 8116.01; and(10) the social study required by A.R.S § 8-112 or as ordered by the court.(b)At the Hearing. The following documents must be provided to the court at the hearing: (1) a certified copy of the birth certificate of the child to be adopted;(2) the certificate of adoption;(3) the order of adoption; and(4) all original consents as provided by law.Adopted Dec. 8, 2021, effective 7/1/2022.COMMENT TO THE 2022 AMENDMENT
This rule requires the petitioner to file a birth certificate. However, in some counties, the filed birth certificate is scanned and shredded and cannot thereafter be returned to the petitioner. The certified birth certificate might be the petitioner's only "original" birth certificate, and most families want to retain it for the child's historical records. This rule accordingly requires the petitioner to file a photocopy of the birth certificate and to present a certified original document to the judicial officer at the Rule 416 hearing. The judicial officer can compare the certified copy with the copy on file to assure that the filed document is authentic, and then the judicial officer can return the certified document to the petitioner.