§ 7-103. Lawful payments related to adoption

(a) Subject to the requirements of sections 3-702 and 3-703 of this title for an accounting and judicial approval of fees and charges related to an adoption, an adoptive parent, or a person acting on behalf of an adoptive parent, may pay the reasonable and actual fee or charge for:

(1) the services of an agency in connection with an adoption;

(2) medical, hospital, nursing, pharmaceutical, or other similar expenses incurred by a mother or her minor child in connection with prenatal care or the birth or any illness of the minor;

(3) counseling services for a parent or a minor for a reasonable time before and after the minor's placement for adoption;

(4) living expenses of a mother for a reasonable time before the birth of her child and for no more than six weeks after the birth;

(5) expenses incurred in ascertaining the information required by section 2-105 of this title;

(6) expenses incurred for legal services, court costs, and other administrative expenses connected with an adoption, including any legal services performed for a parent who consents to the adoption of a minor or relinquishes the minor to an agency;

(7) transportation for services provided under subdivision (2), (3), or (6) of this subsection;

(8) expenses incurred in obtaining a preplacement evaluation and an evaluation during the proceeding for adoption; and

(9) any other service or expense the court finds is reasonable and necessary.

(b) A parent or a guardian, a person acting on the parent's or guardian's behalf, or a provider of a service listed in subsection (a) of this section may receive or accept a payment authorized by subsection (a). The payment may not be made contingent on the placement of a minor for adoption, relinquishment of the minor, or consent to the adoption. If the adoption is not completed, a person who is authorized to make a specific payment by subsection (a) is not liable for that payment unless the person has agreed in a signed writing with a provider of a service to make the payment regardless of the outcome of the proceeding for adoption. If the adoption is not completed, an adoptive parent is liable only for agreed upon expenses which are permitted under this section and were incurred prior to the termination of the adoption process.

(c) Except for the expenses authorized by subdivisions (a)(4) and (a)(7) of this section, no payments as authorized in subsection (a) shall be paid directly to a parent without prior court approval, but instead will be paid to service providers or to an agency. (Added 1995, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)