North Carolina § 48-1-100 - Legislative findings and intent; construction of Chapter.

§ 48-1-100. Legislative findings and intent; construction of Chapter.

The General Assembly finds that it is in the public interest to establish a clear judicial process for adoptions, to promote the integrity and finality of adoptions, to encourage prompt, conclusive disposition of adoption proceedings, and to structure services to adopted children, biological parents, and adoptive parents that will provide for the needs and protect the interests of all parties to an adoption, particularly adopted minors. With special regard for the adoption of minors, the General Assembly declares as a matter of legislative policy that: The primary purpose of this Chapter is to advance the welfare of minors by (i) protecting minors from unnecessary separation from their original parents, (ii) facilitating the adoption of minors in need of adoptive placement by persons who can give them love, care, security, and support, (iii) protecting minors from placement with adoptive parents unfit to have responsibility for their care and rearing, and (iv) assuring the finality of the adoption; and Secondary purposes of this Chapter are (i) to protect biological parents from ill-advised decisions to relinquish a child or consent to the child's adoption, (ii) to protect adoptive parents from assuming responsibility for a child about whose heredity or mental or physical condition they know nothing, (iii) to protect the privacy of the parties to the adoption, and (iv) to discourage unlawful trafficking in minors and other unlawful placement activities. In construing this Chapter, the needs, interests, and rights of minor adoptees are primary. Any conflict between the interests of a minor adoptee and those of an adult shall be resolved in favor of the minor. This Chapter shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies. History (1949, c. 300; 1983, c. 454, ss. 1, 6; 1995, c. 457, s. 2.) Cross References. - Special Needs Adoption Incentive Fund, see G.S. 108A-50.1. Editor's Note. - Session Laws 1995, c. 457, effective July 1, 1996, enacts a new Chapter 48 to replace former Chapter 48 , derived from Session Laws 1949, c. 300. For tables of corresponding sections of former and new Chapter 48 , see the tables at the end of this Chapter. Where appropriate, the historical citations to sections of former Chapter 48 have been added to corresponding sections in new Chapter 48 . Many of the case notes appearing under the sections of this Chapter were decided under former Chapter 48 or under prior law. Former Chapter 48 was derived from Session Laws 1949, c. 300, which rewrote the Chapter as amended by Session Laws 1945, cc. 155, 787, and 788. The original Chapter relating to the adoption of minors was codified from Public Laws 1935, c. 243, as amended by Public Laws 1937, c. 422; 1939, cc. 32, 132; 1941, c. 281; and 1943, c. 735. Session Laws 1995, c. 457, s. 11, provides: "Nothing in this act shall affect the validity of an adoption completed or validated under any prior law." Session Laws 2000-67, s. 11.16, effective July 1, 2000, creates a Special Needs Adoptions Incentive Fund to provide financial assistance to facilitate the adoption of special needs children residing in licensed foster care homes, effective January 1, 2001. These funds are to be matched by county funds. This program does not constitute an entitlement and is subject of availability of funds. The Social Services Commission is to adopt rules to implement the provisions of this section. Legal Periodicals. - For critical analysis and appraisal of the former Chapter, see 13 N.C.L. Rev. 355 (1935). For article, "Thwarting Adoptions," see 19 N.C.L. Rev. 127 (1941). For discussion of the 1949 Act, see 27 N.C.L. Rev. 418 (1949). For case law survey on adoption, see 41 N.C.L. Rev. 458 (1963). For comment, "The Adoptee's Right of Access to Sealed Adoption Records in North Carolina," see 16 Wake Forest L. Rev. 563 (1980). For note, "Minimizing the Putative Father's Rights: In re Adoption of Clark," see 68 N.C. L. Rev. 1257 (1990). For survey, "Why the Best Interests Standard Should Survive Petersen v. Rogers," see 73 N.C.L. Rev. 2451 (1995). For a note on the effect of equitable adoption on statutory adoption procedures, see 76 N.C.L. Rev. 2446 (1998). For comment, "N.C. Gen. Stat. § 48-3-601 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-1111: A Putative Father's Right to Be a Father,” see 41 Campbell L. Rev. 201 (2019).