2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY-TWO - Code of Civil Procedure (§§ 1 — 3576) › Subtitle 4 - Special Legal Proceedings Law (§§ 2241 — 3355a) › PART II - Actions Concerning Minors or Incapacitated Persons (§§ 2661 — 2723) › Chapter 223 - Adoption (§§ 2691 — 2699t) › § 2699e - Report on the expert social study

The Department of the Family, or any private adoption agency duly licensed by the Department, shall file a report on the expert social study with the court for the adjudication of any petition for the adoption of a minor or disabled person.
(1) Contents of the report.— Said report shall contain the following:
(a) The social background record of the petitioners, the adoptee and his/her parent or parents, as well as any other material fact in the case.
(b) Recommendations on whether it is convenient or not for the best interests of the minor or disabled child for him/her to remain in custody of the petitioners and under the supervision of said agency or whether the adoption should or should not proceed.
(c) Comments on the existence [of] one or more causes or conditions which justify the divesting of patria potestad in due course, as provided in the Civil Code.
(2) Term for rendering the report.— The report on the expert social study must be filed within a maximum term of thirty (30) days from the date of the notice of the petition.
(3) Obligation to notify the court on availability to render the report.— The Department of the Family shall have ten (10) days from the date the notice for the adoption petition was served, to inform the court whether it has the necessary resources available to perform the expert social study and render the required report within the term provided by §§ 2699—2699s of this title. Should the Department fail to inform the court within said term or informs [the court] that it shall not be able to render the report on the expert social study within the term provided herein because it does not have a social worker affiliated to, and duly certified by, the Association of Social Workers available on its staff to render said report within the required term; the court shall issue an order appointing a social worker affiliated to and duly certified by the Social Workers’ Association to perform the expert social study and render the corresponding report.
In those cases in which the court appoints a professional, qualified as an expert and licensed in the field of social work, psychiatry or psychology, at the request of the petitioners, to perform the report on the corresponding expert social study, it shall determine the fee to be paid by the petitioners or the Department of the Family, with due consideration of the welfare and comfort of the adoptee.
(4) Scope of the report.— The process of preparing and rendering the report on the expert social study shall not delay nor interrupt the scheduling and holding of the hearing of the adoption petition on its merits.
The court shall take into consideration the contents of the report as well as the recommendations of the social worker, but it shall not be bound to act in accordance to what is stated therein nor the recommendations it contains.
The report on the expert social study shall not be construed as a limitation to the judicial authority in the exercise of its power to authorize the adoption and to decide on all pertinent matters.
(5) Who may examine the report.— The interested parties in an adoption proceeding may ask the court to allow them to examine the report on the expert social study related to the adoption petition before the hearing on its merits is held, and the court may authorize the request through an order, with due consideration of the welfare and comfort of the adoptee.
(6) In all cases in which the applicant is a person or married couple residing in any state of the United States and that wish to be considered as a suitable resource for the placement of a minor in adoption, said parties shall be responsible for obtaining an expert social study that ascertains its suitability in order to determine if they qualify to be registered in the “Puerto Rico Statewide Voluntary Adoption Register”, created by virtue of §§ 1051 et seq. of this title, known as the “Comprehensive Adoption Proceedings Reform Act of 2009”; Provided, further, That the expenses of the expert social study shall be defrayed by the applicants.
History —Jan. 19, 1995, No. 9, § 6; Dec. 18, 2009, No. 186, § 36, eff. 30 days after Dec. 18, 2009; Dec. 16, 2011, No. 247, § 9.