Adopting a Child in Utah

An adult may adopt a minor child; a married couple (including a stepparent) or a single adult who is not married may adopt, but an adult cohabiting outside a legal marriage may not unless related to the child or an Indian Child Welfare Act placement. The adopting adult (or one spouse) must be at least 10 years older than the child, and convictions for listed child-abuse, sexual and trafficking offenses bar adoption except in limited cases. Consent or relinquishment is required from the child if 12 or older, the birth mother, a legal or adjudicated parent, an unmarried father who has strictly complied with the statutory requirements, and any placing agency, unless parental rights were terminated. A preplacement adoptive evaluation with criminal background and child abuse checks is generally required before placement, and the final decree generally may not be entered until the child has lived in the home (or been placed) for 90 days. The case is filed in the judicial district where the prospective adoptive parent lives.

Adoption by a stepparent married to the child's parent is expressly allowed. Unless the court requests one, no preplacement adoptive evaluation is required when a birth parent has legal custody and the adoptive parent is a stepparent, though the stepparent must still file criminal background and child abuse report information before finalization. The other parent's consent or relinquishment is needed unless that parent's rights are terminated, and a petition to terminate parental rights may be filed in the adoption case. The final decree generally may not be entered until the child has lived with the stepparent for 180 days, unless the court finds good cause.