The most common kinds of basic or uncontested adoptions are grandparent adoptions: a child’s parent is unable to take care of them, so their grandparent steps in to be their legal guardian.  However, a setup like this can only last so long before the person taking care of the child needs to be the child’s legal guardian. You cannot enroll a child in school without being their legal guardian; you cannot put them on your health insurance as a dependent without being their legal guardian; they cannot receive any of the benefits of being your child without you being their legal guardian.

If the parent lives in another school district, yet their child lives with a relative or close friend in a completely different school district, then the child will not be able to go to school in the district in which they live. There are a cast of other downsides to not being the legal guardian of a child of whom you are taking care, but people often to not appreciate them before they become a significant problem. 

This is why, if a parent and a guardian have agreed that the guardian should take care of the child, it is essential that the adoption be formalized, or else the guardian will be unable to fulfill the basic requirements of being a guardian. 

Just In Time Legal provides the simplest and most affordable services for individuals who are willing to give up their child to a new legal guardian.