Adopting a Child in Rhode Island

A Rhode Island resident may petition the family court to adopt a person younger than themselves and under 18; a married petitioner's spouse must join unless the court finds good cause and that the adoption is in the child's best interest. Nonresidents may adopt only a child in the care of a governmental or licensed Rhode Island child-placing agency. Written consent of the parents (or the surviving parent) is required, and a child 14 or older must consent; a parent's rights can be terminated on grounds such as willful failure to provide care and maintenance for at least one year, unfitness, or abandonment (no contact for six months is prima facie evidence). The Department of Children, Youth and Families investigates the proposed home (with nationwide criminal records checks) and reports within 60 days, or the court may accept a licensed agency's home study. The child must generally live in the home for six months before the adoption is granted, though the court may waive this for good cause. Adoptions of adults are heard by the probate court.

When the petitioners are a parent and their spouse (or a grandparent) and the child lives with them, the noncustodial parent's refusal to consent does not end the case: the court may grant the adoption without that consent if the petitioners prove by clear and convincing evidence willful failure to provide care and maintenance for at least one year, unfitness, or abandonment. The petitioners do not have to show efforts to strengthen the child's relationship with the noncustodial parent. The court gives primary consideration to the child's needs.