Families who add babies biologically usually have medical insurance and no major worries about the cost of the actual birth. Adoption on the other hand, is not an insured situation and families frequently need to consider what the total cost of adoption will mean to their finances. Adopting privately or internationally can vary widely on the overall costs depending on the agency and other factors included.
Adoption of a baby or child from the foster care system typically costs nothing. In some cases there may be a few associated fees when a family chooses to have their home study done by a certified agency providing state approved home studies. This can speed the process up to some extent, therefore it may be worth consideration. Some states do have some associated fees which are generally less than $1,000.00 and often these fees are reimbursed to adoptive families at the time of finalization.
Adoptive families in many cases can use the IRS Adoption Tax Credit to offset the costs of adoption. Currently, the tax credit is over $10,000.00. Generally, families who use the tax credit will need to document the expenditures in order to claim the credit. You can find out more information about the IRS Adoption Tax credit at this link: IRS Topic 607 Adoption Credit.
The IRS rules also allow families who adopt a baby, child or sibling group from foster care who are classified as “special needs” to automatically qualify and receive the tax credit regardless of the actual costs to achieve the adoption. When a family adopts a special needs child there is no need to document the costs of the adoption in order to receive the tax credit. Many special needs adoptive parents are not aware they are entitled to this credit and assume they cannot use it because they paid little or nothing in order to adopt. You may review the special needs rules at this link:Publication 968 Tax Benefits For Adoption.
Not all children adopted from foster care are classified as special needs and each state will have their own definition and criteria for meeting the special needs qualifications. The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, NAIC, has information on how the classification of special needs children is determined at this link: NAIC Adopting a Special Needs Child.
In addition to the special needs tax credit families adopting a special needs child may also receive adoption assistance in the form of a monthly cash subsidy based on the child’s needs. Many children adopted from the foster care system will receive health coverage until they are the age of 18. While this medical coverage may not cover all of the child‘s needs Families should also be aware they may add their child to their private health insurance and use the state provided health coverage as secondary medical insurance for their child.
Adopting children from foster care does have a variety of supportive incentives for stable and loving families. Many of the supports offered to adoptive families of children from foster care are designed to help make it possible for families to afford to adopt children who need permanent loving homes. Financially speaking, adopting a child from foster care should not be a concern for interested parents.
Special Needs and Adoption-Related Terms:
A | B | C | D | E-F | G-H-I | J-K-L | M | N-O | P | Q-R | S | T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
For more information about parenting special needs children you might want to visit the Families.com Special Needs Blog and the Mental Health Blog. Or visit my personal website.