has been running through my head since I got off the phone with the paralegal at our attorney's office this morning. They need to reschedule the finalization because our attorney had a conflict. I am on the verge of tears due to anger and frustration. So let me lay it all out for you:
Harrison came home on July 26, 2005.
We met with our attorney for the first time on August 17, 2005, in order to get a head start on the paperwork, per instructions from our adoption agency.
We completed all paperwork assigned to us by the attorney, went to our doctors for physicals, and waited the mandatory six months before finalization would be possible. We stayed in touch with our adoption agency and completed all of their requirements for finalization in a timely manner.
When the six month waiting period was complete, our social worker completed her paperwork and sent her consent for finalization to our adoption agency. Our adoption agency sent a copy of that consent to our attorney by the end of February, which should have set the ball rolling to get us to finalization.
And then began the botchedness. The paralegal called in early March (or was it February) and asked us if we would want to finalize at the same time as another family we know whose daughter came home at around the same time. If so, she would "withhold" our paperwork and send it in at the same time as theirs so we might share a finalization court date. Sounded fun, but it was strictly against our agency's policy to delay finalization for any reason, so we declined. The warning bells should have been loud and clear in my head at that point, but in good faith I silenced them.
We didn't hear anything for a few weeks so I called the attorney to check the status of our file, and the paralegal, sounding very frustrated that I had called, told me that their legal secretary had quit, and they were in the process of hiring so all work was on hold. What? Why were we not informed of this? Again I silenced the warning bells, explaining to myself that it was not their fault someone had quit.
Along came the middle of April, and still no word. I called again, and this time our 'trusty' paralegal told me it was time to come in and sign the final paperwork, the petition to adopt. We made an appointment, signed the papers, and were told we were just waiting for a court date.
At the end of April, the paralegal called us and said "oops!" she had forgotten to have us renew our child abuse clearances for New York State, and she'd need to send that to the court. The form would come from our adoption agency. We should fill it out as quickly as possible and then send it back to our adoption agency. They, in turn, would send it on to the state and when the clearances came in they'd send it to our attorney. We followed those directions, and the clearances were back to our attorney within a week or two. Although we were miffed that this very important step had been forgotten by our lawyer, we decided we were too close to finalizing to make a big deal out of it. Again, the warning bells.
At the ned of May we'd heard nothing about a date, so I called again. The paralegal refused to call the court at that time, fearing she would "irritate" the court secretary and further delay our finalization. This time the bells in my head had my full attention. Why was she so afraid of ticking off the court? Do they have a bad relatioship with that court? Is our attorney's reputation getting in the way of our becoming a legal family? I hesitantly agreed to wait until the end of June for them to call the court and check the status of our file.
On June 16th we received a bill from our lawyer, and this put us at the exact dollar amount of the quote they gave us for finalizing. This means that anything else they charge us for will be above what we have budgeted for. Not that we can't pay for it, but I really, really have no use for their "drag it out as long as possible and bill for every minute" policy. I am beyond irritated.
So, it's the end of June. Last Friday I got a call from our adoption agency wondering why in the world it is taking so long for us to finalize, since the gave their consent back in February. I explained as best I could, and then they requested another report about Harrison's progress and warned that if we do not finalize soon we will need to pay for extra post placement visits (at $250.00 each). Shit. I called the useless paralegal again, and she said that she was typing a letter to the court as we spoke requesting a check on the status of our file. The letter would go out on Friday, and she hoped we'd have it scheduled soon. I explained to her, yet again, the urgency of the matter, the pressure we're getting from our agency, and our disappointment that this has not been a speedier transaction.
Tuesday, yesterday, I got that call that made my heart sing. And the paralegal, to her credit, did say that the date was not set in stone. But she also said she did not see any reason why it could not be that date and time, so we should write it on our calendars. Brendan asked for the day off. We started planning a party. And today, Wednesday, useless paralegal calls again, and says there is a scheduling conflict after all. She tries to make it sound like the court should have known our attorney could not schedule anything for that day, but really it is not their job to know the schedules of attorneys. It is the paralegal's job. Then she has the gall to be sarcastically annoyed with me, saying "It's only going to be scheduled a few weeks out, it's not like it's going to be two or three months". Well gee, now I feel better. Stupid useless paralegal.
Yep, a steady stream of expletives. You might not want to talk to me today, as I might just bite your head off in misdirected anger.
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