Step-By-Step Guide

1-
 To begin the intermediary process, complete the appropriate Motion and Affidavit to Open Adoption File form and file it (see Step 2) in the Colorado court where the adoption occurred.*** (To see a list of the courts, click here.) If you are a birth relative and do not know the appropriate court, file where the relinquishment took place.  If you are an adoptee or adoptive relative and do not know the correct court, file in the district where the adoptive parents were living at the time of the adoption.  Do not file in more than one court.  CCIS will contact you when your case is received from the courts. (Contact CCIS if you have difficulties filing.  CCIS cannot know if you have had trouble with the process unless you call, as we only know about your case once the court sends us your Motion and the court-processed Order of Appointment.)

The proper Motion and Affidavit to Open Adoption File forms are available  by double clicking on the appropriate form listed below in this section, or from:

http://www.courts.state.co.us

When using the above website, when it comes up, type in "confidential intermediary forms" in its search box, and then select the appropriate form.

    If you are an adoptee, request form JDF #343

    If you are an adoptive parent or custodial grandparent, form JDF #341

    If you are a birth parent or biological grandparent, form JDF #344
(If the birth mother used a fictitious name which is known, also use form JDF #344A)

    If you are a sibling or half sibling of an adoptee, form JDF #342

If you are: an adult descendant; legal guardian; spouse; adult stepchild of adoptee; adopted adult sibling of the adoptee, or, adopted adult sibling of adoptee, form JDF #352

(These petitioners will need to have the living adoptee sign a consent authorizing their search, using form JDF #353, or the petitioner will need to provide documentation of the adoptee's death.)

 Motions:

JDF 343 Adoptee.pdf

jdf341 Adoptive Parent or Custodial Parent.pdf

jdf342 Sibling or Half-sibling of Adoptee.pdf

jdf344 Birth Parent or Biological Grandparent.pdf

jdf344a Birthmother who used a Ficticious Name.pdf

***jdf345 Order of Appointment of Confidential Intermediary  To expedite the process, it is now recommended that petitioners send 3 copies both of their completed Motion and 3 copies (blank) of the Order when filing with a court.  Also, send one self addressed stamped envelop to the court so that it will send you a copy of the Order when they process your request, and one stamped envelop made out to CCIS so that the court will send the Motion and Order to us.  If you do not do this, the court may not process your request, or may not send it on to us.

jdf352 Adult Descendent of Adoptee, Legal Guardian of Adoptee, Spouse of Adoptee, Adult Descendent of Adoptive Parent, Adult Stepchild of Adoptee, or Adopted Adult Sibling of Adoptee.pdf

jdf353 Consent from the Adoptee or Birth Parent (needed if the Adult Adoptee or Birth Parent is still living, with: jdf 341, jdf 344, and jdf 352)

It is best to download 3 copies of the form needed.  Fill out the forms as best as you can.  Save one for your records (and to use later if necessary) and have your signature notarized on the one you will be sending to the appropriate court.

2-
 Find the court to mail your form to.

Click here to view an alphabetical listing of courts. (File where the adoption took place.)

3-
 Wait for CCIS to confirm receipt of your Motion to the court, and make payment  

4-
CCIS will confirm receipt of payment and then assign the case to a designated CI.  The CI will contact you by phone (or other methods if requested) to begin the process.  The CI will be in about monthly contact unless the case moves more rapidly, letting you know about progress in the search (remember that the CI can only tell you very generic information due to confidentiality concerns).  The CI will also let you know whether or not additional expense money is needed, which usually can be requested in small increments. 

5-
 Once the sought-after has been located, the CI will inform you of this so that you can prepare yourself, and also so that you can understand the likelihood of consent for contact based upon the information acquired during the search.  The CI will then attempt contact and determine from the sought-after whether or not any form of contact is acceptable.  The CI will then make arrangements for the agreed-upon contact (after filing a legal consent with the court), or will close the refusing party's identifying information with the court.  The petitioner may then decide whether or not to pursue additional search. 

6-
 With consent from the sought-after, additional search requires an additional payment of the fee (currently at $200 per additional search).  Once remitted to CCIS, the CI will continue to search.  With or without consent, additional search  requires an additional fee, and additional expense monies may also be requested.

7-
 Once the case is completed, the CI will return all records to the Chief Confidential Intermediary at CCIS for closure with the court.  An expense accounting will be sent to the petitioner with a request for payment of the outstanding bill or remittance of any amount left over.  At this time, CCIS will also send out an evaluation form to be completed on the program and on the individual CI assigned to the case.