What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Alabama
I contacted an attorney to handle the "Surrender of Rights Final Release for adoption" for the birthfather of a child we're adopting and the "Acknowledgement of Surrender of Rights" for the state of Georgia. I asked the attorney how much this would cost us. He said, "It's really very simple and it will only cost between $25-$50".
I took him the paperwork and sat in his office with my brother to see if there was any other information the attorney might need. The attorney said it was quite simple and he'd take care of this matter for us. He made arrangements for when the biological father would come into his office to sign and told me he would call me when everything was done and I could come pick it up and pay for it.
I called the attorney at noon and asked if everything was handled and he said no. I called the biological father and he said that he'd already gone there and everything was taken care of. I gave the attorney more time and went back that afternoon with my sister. (She was going to see about scheduling an appointment with him to handle her adoption.) I was then informed that the paperwork that was done usually costs a person $500 and since he told us $50, he would accept $300, because of the time it took him to "speak with the bio father and making sure this was done without duress and of his own free will". The attorney held the documents up so I could see the signatures, then told me I would have to sign a document stating I would owe him $300. The attorney put the documents in a folder and folded his hands over them until I signed that document. I was in a panic. I had a 5-hour drive ahead of me to get back home and I had been waiting on those documents all day. Then to see them completed, but couldn't touch them until I had signed for an amount that I didn't agree to. I did and left. I was horrified.
This attorney also told me he spoke with my attorney in GA and told him about this price change and he said my attorney agreed. (Of course, when speaking to my attorney the next day, he said no way, that would be very wrong.)
I only gave the attorney $100. I didn't know what to do. Those documents were held hostage by the attorney. Can anyone advise me on if I should write letters of complain and to whom? Is this a standard practice of attorneys? I was floored.
Mom2J
I contacted an attorney to handle the "Surrender of Rights Final Release for adoption" for the birthfather of a child we're adopting and the "Acknowledgement of Surrender of Rights" for the state of Georgia. I asked the attorney how much this would cost us. He said, "It's really very simple and it will only cost between $25-$50".
I took him the paperwork and sat in his office with my brother to see if there was any other information the attorney might need. The attorney said it was quite simple and he'd take care of this matter for us. He made arrangements for when the biological father would come into his office to sign and told me he would call me when everything was done and I could come pick it up and pay for it.
I called the attorney at noon and asked if everything was handled and he said no. I called the biological father and he said that he'd already gone there and everything was taken care of. I gave the attorney more time and went back that afternoon with my sister. (She was going to see about scheduling an appointment with him to handle her adoption.) I was then informed that the paperwork that was done usually costs a person $500 and since he told us $50, he would accept $300, because of the time it took him to "speak with the bio father and making sure this was done without duress and of his own free will". The attorney held the documents up so I could see the signatures, then told me I would have to sign a document stating I would owe him $300. The attorney put the documents in a folder and folded his hands over them until I signed that document. I was in a panic. I had a 5-hour drive ahead of me to get back home and I had been waiting on those documents all day. Then to see them completed, but couldn't touch them until I had signed for an amount that I didn't agree to. I did and left. I was horrified.
This attorney also told me he spoke with my attorney in GA and told him about this price change and he said my attorney agreed. (Of course, when speaking to my attorney the next day, he said no way, that would be very wrong.)
I only gave the attorney $100. I didn't know what to do. Those documents were held hostage by the attorney. Can anyone advise me on if I should write letters of complain and to whom? Is this a standard practice of attorneys? I was floored.
Mom2J