Adopting a Child in Indiana

A petition to adopt a child under 18 must be filed through an attorney of record with the court having probate jurisdiction in the county where the petitioner or child lives, where the placing agency is located, or where the attorney has an office (or any county if all required consents or termination orders are filed with it). Written consent is generally required from each parent of a child born in marriage, the mother and legally established father of a child born outside marriage, any person or agency with custody, and the child if over 14. A licensed child placing agency (or the local child services office in a CHINS case) investigates and reports within 60 days, and the adoption is granted only after a period of supervision. The court grants the adoption if it is in the child's best interest, the petitioners can rear and support the child, required paternity-registry and consent filings are made, and criminal history does not bar it.

When a petitioner is the child's stepparent (or grandparent), the court may waive the period of supervision and the agency investigation report, but it must still have a criminal history check done and reported. The other parent's consent is required unless an exception applies, such as abandonment for at least six months before filing, or failing for at least one year without justifiable cause to communicate significantly with the child or knowingly failing to support the child when able to do so.