Tech Forum Archive

Adoptions

15 postsstarted by Forrest-p40 8,302 viewsoriginal topic

Forrest-p40
New Member
#1
i've never had this happen before, so i could use some help..

i have a single sister in the ward who has been a foster parent for many years, she recentlly legally adopted two of the children. what exactly are the steps i need to take to make this legal on the church records? (and no, they haven't been blessed or baptized, they are non members).

thanks for any help
"If you can't laugh at yourself, let me do it".
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#2
I think if you check the Help section of MLS, under normal adoptions, you can enter them just like birth parents. Not sure about the situation with a single sister.
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odyssey-p40
New Member
#3
I recently adopted 2 girls from Russia. We were told that they needed to be blessed or baptized to be put into the computer. This came up when we discovered that they were not on the rolls in primary, since they were not in the computer.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#4
odyssey wrote:I recently adopted 2 girls from Russia. We were told that they needed to be blessed or baptized to be put into the computer. This came up when we discovered that they were not on the rolls in primary, since they were not in the computer.
Unless I'm all wrong, Blessing not required - only permission.

The problem here is setting them up as children when there is no adoptive father. That part I'm not sure of. But it setting them up as members of the household shouldn't be an issue.
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opee
Member
#5

Blessing is not necessary to create record

odyssey wrote:I recently adopted 2 girls from Russia. We were told that they needed to be blessed or baptized to be put into the computer. This came up when we discovered that they were not on the rolls in primary, since they were not in the computer.


If you read the information at the top of the form for Creating a Membership Record/Blessing of a child (under FORMS in MLS), it says that it is not necessary to bless a child to create a membership record. You would need the parental permission as RussellHltn stated.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#6
To answer the original question, this is from the MLS Help file:
The bishop should verify that all legal requirements have been completed before you record adoptions. Do not send legal documents to the administration office.
*
If the adopted child has a membership record:
*
Update the child's record by showing child and parent names as they should appear, according to the adoption documents. Use the option View and Update—Individual Record.
*
Return to "Update Individual Record."
*
If the adopted child does not have a membership record:
*
Create a membership record for the child listing the adoptive parents as his parents, as shown on the adoption documents. Use the option Create Records—New Child of Record.
It still doesn't answer the issue of a single adoptive parent. In testing, it seems possible to create a record with no father, but you have to deal with a lot of MLS complaints.
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dotson98
Member
#7

Single Parent

I recently added a child of record for a single mother. The child resulted from a very bad situation, and the mother did not want the father listed. MLS complained a little, but it was no big deal.
embunker
New Member
#8
We had a situation where a child was BIC, but not long after dad split. The child after a divorce and remarriage of the mother in the temple was adopted by the stepfather. One of my clerks wanted to know if we put the name down of the father the child was sealed to or adopted by. Clearly the adoption takes precedence even though children are never re-sealed to the adoptive parent
The_Earl
Member
#9
embunker wrote:We had a situation where a child was BIC, but not long after dad split. The child after a divorce and remarriage of the mother in the temple was adopted by the stepfather. One of my clerks wanted to know if we put the name down of the father the child was sealed to or adopted by. Clearly the adoption takes precedence even though children are never re-sealed to the adoptive parent
1. I would ask your Stake President, or Bishop what to do.
2. You might get better response if you create a new thread instead of tacking your question to the bottom of this one
3. I have no idea what you should do

Welcome
The Earl
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#10
embunker wrote:Clearly the adoption takes precedence even though children are never re-sealed to the adoptive parent
I believe that would be correct. I would have no issue with following the procedures for adoption and updating the records to show the adoptive father as the father of the child.
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1historian-p40
New Member
#11
It is the biological father who should originally be listed or it is imposable to be born in the covenant (BIC takes 2 people) If the child has been adopted it can be changed to show the step father when submitting the request through MLS the bishop will need to see and verify the adoption papers and then submit the change to Salt lake using the special request option in the membership section of MLS
1historian-p40
New Member
#12
The Handbook (book 1) states that you should create a "child of record" record for the children. no priesthood ordinance is necessary for this to occur.
geek
Member
#13
embunker wrote:We had a situation where a child was BIC, but not long after dad split. The child after a divorce and remarriage of the mother in the temple was adopted by the stepfather. One of my clerks wanted to know if we put the name down of the father the child was sealed to or adopted by. Clearly the adoption takes precedence even though children are never re-sealed to the adoptive parent
My understanding is that, as far as MLS is concerned, that the father is the adopted stepfather. As far as MLS is concerned, you only have one father - the legal one.

BIC and sealing status is entirely separate. There is no field in MLS to record to which father a child is sealed. BIC is a strictly binary field.

But call SLC if you really have an issue with it.
Former membership clerk under 3 bishops, now on 2nd stint as executive secretary. Can I go back to teaching priesthood now?
Skyhawk-p40
New Member
#14
geek wrote:As far as MLS is concerned, you only have one father - the legal one.
100% correct.

Also, about the original problem, the Handbook says that only the parent(s)/legal guardian(s) can request that a record be created. If the single mother is literally the only adopting parent, then she gets to make the call. If the child is under 8 years old, a New Child of Record would be created. If the individual is over 8 years old, the only way a record can be created is through baptism. Otherwise, a nonmember record would be created to add the individual in the household.

But, you guys pretty much already answered that....just thought I would consolidate it into one place!
webybee
New Member
#15
embunker wrote:We had a situation where a child was BIC, but not long after dad split. The child after a divorce and remarriage of the mother in the temple was adopted by the stepfather. One of my clerks wanted to know if we put the name down of the father the child was sealed to or adopted by. Clearly the adoption takes precedence even though children are never re-sealed to the adoptive parent
I had a similar problem. A couple in my ward adopted a family member's child that was BIC. I called SLC and was told to, have the adoptive parents write a letter to the First Presidency, also would need letters from the Bishop and Stake President. Each case is reviewed by the First Presidency because it involves a dismissal of a sealing.

Hope this helps