(a) Once a petitioner or petitioners has received an adoptee into his or her home for the purposes of adoption and a petition for adoption has been filed, an interlocutory order may be entered delegating to the petitioner or petitioners both of the following:
- (1) Physical custody, except legal custody shall be retained by the county department of human resources or the licensed child-placing agency that held legal custody at the time of the placement until the entry of final judgment of adoption.
- (2) The responsibility for the care, maintenance, and support of the adoptee, including any necessary medical or surgical treatment, pending further order of the court.
- (b) This interlocutory order shall not stop the running of the time periods prescribed in Section 26-10E-9.
(Act 2023-92, §1; Act 2025-407, §1.)