Recent News

August 26th, 2021 Attorney Dimitra Scott and her guest, Joan Ward, MSW, LICSW answer frequently asked questions about the pre-adoption homestudy process. Joan has been a Washington State Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) providing services to children and families for over 30 years. Read More

July 1st, 2021 Family law attorneys Lisa Do and Walton Dabney and their guest - CPA Eli C. Neal from 4 Corners Financial Forensics - discuss when a CPA is needed in a divorce and how to best utilize them. Read More

June 3rd, 2021 Dimitra S. Scott speaks about surrogacy requirements in Washington State. Read More

April 8th, 2021 Dimitra S. Scott discusses options for private adoptions in Washington. Read More

When families plan to have children through an Assisted Reproduction process such as Gestational Surrogacy or Genetic Surrogacy, families are formed with the assistance of physicians and fertility clinics all over the country and indeed, throughout the world.  However, it appears in many case the medical technology developed faster than the laws in most states.… Read More

When you're in a relationship with someone who has children from a prior relationship, it is not uncommon to bond with and treat those children as if they were your own.  It is important, however, to remember your rights as a step-parent differ substantially then the parental rights of a biological or legal parent.  Should… Read More

**This law uses the term “Indian Child” to refer to child members of federally recognized indigenous Native American political and cultural units. These units can be called tribes, bands, nations or any variety of nomenclature. For clarity, this blog posts uses the terms found in the law and in the mandatory forms when necessary to… Read More

The U.S. tax code presently allows adoptive families a tax related benefit for any and all qualifying costs and fees incurred in pursuing an adoption.   The IRS allows a fairly broad definition of allowed costs and fees such that in most cases, any and all fees and costs paid to an adoption agency, an… Read More

Question: I’m in the military married to (or have recently adopted) a person who is not a U.S. citizen. What do I do if I’m being sent overseas and my spouse/child has not yet met the residency requirement to be naturalized? You have recently created (or add to) your U.S. military family. From the multiple veterans,… Read More