GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1989 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 977

SENATE BILL 1622

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT THE PROBATIONARY TIME BETWEEN AN INTERLOCUTORY DECREE AND FINAL ADOPTION ORDER MAY BE THE SAME FOR PRIVATE ADOPTIONS AS THOSE ARRANGED BY SOCIAL SERVICES OR A LICENSED CHILD-PLACING AGENCY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 48-21(d) reads as rewritten:

"(d)      Upon examination of the written report required under G.S. 48-16, the court may, in its discretion, shorten the probationary period between the granting of the interlocutory decree and the final order of adoption by the length of time the child has resided in the home of the petitioners prior to the granting of the interlocutory decree; provided, that the child was placed in the home of the petitioners by a director of social services or by a licensed child-placing agency and such fact has been certified to the court by the director of social services or the executive head of the child-placing agency, but no final order shall be entered until the child shall have resided in the home of the petitioners for a period of one year."

Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification and shall apply retroactively to petitions for adoption that are pending on the date of ratification and shall apply to petitions for adoption whether filed before or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 19th day of July, 1990.