2699g

The court shall summon the parties for their first appearance, which must take place within thirty (30) days after the Department of the Family has been notified of the petition for adoption. Once the interested parties have been notified or subpoenaed to attend the hearing for the first appearance, they shall be admonished that should they fail to appear, the court may decree the adoption without further summons or hearing.Once the interested parties have been notified or summoned to attend the hearing for the first appearance they shall be admonished that should they fail to appear, the court may decree the adoption without a further summons or hearing.At their first appearance, the parties may present their opposition regarding the petition for adoption. The parties shall announce to the court all the evidence they shall present on the day of the hearing on its merits, including the name, address and telephone number of the witnesses who shall testify and a brief description of their testimony. Every document announced but not provided to the opposing parties shall be remitted to the parties within a term of not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing on its

ion of their testimony. Every document announced but not provided to the opposing parties shall be remitted to the parties within a term of not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing on its merits.During the first appearance the court shall schedule the date for the hearing on its merits. At the first appearance the court may declare the adoption petition to be in order. To do this, the report on the expert social study, and in the proper cases, the consent, under oath, be it written or given in open court, of those persons who are legally called upon to consent to the adoption, must be recorded in the files. The court must also be convinced that the adoption shall guarantee the welfare and the best interests of the adoptee. History —Jan. 19, 1995, No. 9, § 8; Dec. 18, 2009, No. 186, § 37, eff. 30 days after Dec. 18, 2009.