Adopting a Child in Idaho

Any adult living in Idaho may adopt a minor. The adoptive parent must be at least 15 years older than the child or at least 25 years old (this does not apply to a stepparent). A married person who is not legally separated needs the spouse's consent. Petitioners must have lived in Idaho for at least six consecutive months before filing (except in child protection cases) and file in the district court of their county. Consent is generally required from a child over 12, both parents (or the surviving parent) of a child born in a marriage, the mother of a child born outside marriage, an adjudicated father, an unmarried father who filed a paternity acknowledgment or met the statute's strict support-and-relationship requirements, and any guardian. Before a child is placed in an adoptive home, a social investigation (home study) following Department of Health and Welfare rules must be completed with a positive recommendation.

The minimum-age rule (15 years older or age 25) does not apply when the adopting parent is the spouse of a natural parent. The petitioning stepparent, the child, and the stepparent's spouse who is the child's natural parent must appear at the hearing. Service of the petition on the Department of Health and Welfare is required when the petitioner is unrelated and not married to a natural parent, but is at the court's discretion in a stepparent case. The other parent's consent is needed unless that parent's rights are terminated; termination and adoption can be heard together at one hearing.