Adopting a Child in Kansas

Any adult, or a married couple jointly, may adopt a minor or an adult, but a married person needs the other spouse's consent. In an independent adoption, consent generally comes from the child's living parents (or a guardian or court in some situations), and a child over 14 of sound intellect must also consent; in an agency adoption, the agency consents along with a child over 14. A birth mother cannot give consent until 12 hours after the birth. In independent and agency adoptions, the court requires an assessment (home study) by a court-approved licensed professional or child-placing agency, completed within one year before the petition; the court may waive it on a relative's petition or on its own motion. A nonresident adopting in Kansas must have the assessment done in his or her home state. Out-of-state placements must follow the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.

A stepparent adoption is the adoption of a minor child by the spouse of a parent, with that parent's consent. The other living parent must also consent unless the court finds consent unnecessary. The court can find it unnecessary, by clear and convincing evidence, on grounds such as abandonment or neglect, unfitness, no reasonable efforts to support or communicate with the child, or failing or refusing to assume the duties of a parent for the two consecutive years before the petition was filed (knowingly failing to pay a substantial portion of court-ordered support for two years, when able to, creates a presumption of this). The statute that requires a court-ordered assessment lists independent and agency adoptions; stepparent adoptions are a separate category under the law.