Looking to Adopt Shale

Theo hadn't been at the firm for long. He had applied for his pupillage several months ago at the only law firm in the city, and to his surprise the owner, Arthur accepted him. Since then he had sat in on a few court cases, written a few contracts, and dealt with a divorce, but there was still a lot he had to learn. One of them included handling adoption cases. He was meant to meet with his client in five minutes, and though he was too proud to admit it to Arthur, he was a little nervous.

He heard the chime of the doorbell a minute ago, and he had adjusted his tie and stood up. Yvette came in to notify him that his client had arrived a minute after. Though he could just ask Yvette to bring his client, Ms. Forestier in, he preferred a more personal approach.

The door to the lobby was just a short turn from his office door. He entered the lobby and spotted a petite young woman there, presumably his client. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Forestier. If you don't mind following me? We can talk in my office."

"That would be me," Theo said, settling into his own chair. He reminded himself to sit up straight and look professional. "There's not much crime on the island, and most of the paperwork Arthur likes to deal with himself. So we're able to have shorter waiting times than most law firms not on the island."

Theo reached behind him to grab Ms. Forestier's client file from the shelf. Currently it was mostly empty save a cover page.

"So, Yvette informed me that you were looking into an adoption?" Theo said. "Adoptions on the Island differ a bit from those, say, in the UK. Have you already met the child you were looking to adopt?"

"That's very nice," Theo said. Teenagers often weren't considered as adoption candidates due to how close they are to adulthood, plus with families believing that the teens would be unable to adapt to their households. "So I take that you already have a pre establishing relationship with him."

"Does the child in question have any legal guardians that we currently can contact?" Theo said, then decided to give a brief overview of the process. "You would first have to fill out a preliminary form stating your interest. Then there would be a background check and several interviews so that the government can deem you a suitable guardian."

"Right, I see." Theo nodded. That means the child in question would most likely consent to the adoption as well, seeing that he had already lived with Ms. Forestier previously. When he heard the comment about having no family, he frowned a little as well. "Yes, unfortunately that's a common occurrence for many of those that end up here... not even from different dimensions, many of them, but unable to go back due to social stigma. It's very kind of you to do that. "

"That helps, though the authorities might take some time getting back to you," Theo explained. He turned his attention to his laptop and pulled up the government's preliminary adoption interest form. Then he tilted the screen towards Ms. Forestier. "This is the official form. Was this the one you filled out?"

"When I was a student I saw that too. You'd have some people who have families on the island, and then those kids who have nothing to go back to," Theo said. He was lucky in a sense to still have a family and three siblings that he regularly spoke to. Sure, mum and dad didn't like each other too much, but at least he's got something. And that's more than a lot of people could say.

"That's great. Let me just take a look," he said, taking the paper from Ms. Forestier. He always appreciated people who were prepared. Scanning the page, he found no obvious mistakes. "Great. You've filled it out fine. As soon as the authorities get back to you they should begin with background checks and interviews. Do you and the child in question have identity papers? I'll need them during the final stage."