Adoption Laws
1. Any adult can adopt. The spouse must consent unless the couple is legally separated by a court decree or have been separated for more than three years.
2. Adoptive parents and any other adults within the home must pass a background check.
3. Adults can adopt each other. This allows for inheritance and legal rights.
4. Minors can adopt other minors. Minors who are emancipated or legally married can adopt other children. This usually involves minors adopting their younger siblings.
5. Adoptive parents must live in the state for three months prior to the adoption being finalized.
6. Children over the age of 14 have to consent to adoption.
7. Adoption agencies must continue to monitor an adoption for three months after the adoption, except in cases of adoption from foster care.
8. Foster parents may adopt their foster children once birth parent’s parental rights have been terminated.
9. Home studies must be completed within four months of the adoption application.
Steps to Adopt
- Attend an orientation session and choose an adoption agency.
- Submit an application and medical history, complete a national and state criminal background check, and also complete a check by the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment.
- Complete the home study process. You and your family will need to meet with agency staff in your home as part of the home study approval process.
- Attend agency-sponsored training.
- Work with a caseworker to find the child waiting for you.
- Visit with the child.
- After the child is placed in your home, work closely with the child’s caseworker for a period of supervision.
- Work with your agency to complete the necessary steps to receive adoption subsidies, medical subsidies, and reimbursement of nonrecurring adoption expenses, if eligible.
- Hire and work with your attorney to submit the adoption petition to finalize the adoption in court.
- Contact your local department of social services or a voluntary authorized adoption agency to learn how to obtain post-adoption services, if necessary.
Are you ready to pursue adoption? Visit Adoption.org or call 1-800-ADOPT-98 to connect with compassionate, nonjudgmental adoption specialists who can help you get started on the journey of a lifetime.
