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How to Adopt an Adult in Indiana

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Indiana · Last updated October 7, 2026

Indiana has no adult adoption chapter. The whole rule lives in one section, Indiana Code 31-19-2-1, tucked inside the chapter about filing an adoption petition, and it says an individual who is at least eighteen years of age may be adopted by a resident of Indiana. An adult adoption is a court order that makes one adult the permanent legal parent of another adult, with the inheritance and next of kin consequences that follow. Indiana attaches no list of qualifying categories. The person being adopted does not have to be disabled, a former stepchild, or a former foster youth, and Indiana sets no minimum number of years between the two adults. Two features shape the filing. The adopting person must be a resident of Indiana, and the petition may go to the court having jurisdiction in probate matters in any county in the state, which is wider than the four county choices the minor route allows under IC 31-19-2-2. The consent of the adult being adopted cannot simply be signed and mailed in. It must be acknowledged in open court. If the adopting person is married, husband and wife must join in the action (IC 31-19-2-4). The adoptee's own husband or wife is asked for nothing, because the consent chapter reaches only a child under eighteen (IC 31-19-9-1). The $20 adoption history fee and the $50 putative father registry fee do not attach to an adult petition (IC 31-19-2-8). Attorney review of your petition and consent is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in Indiana

Who are you hoping to adopt?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

Who can be adopted as an adult in Indiana?

Any individual at least eighteen years of age may be adopted by a resident of Indiana, with no list of qualifying categories attached (IC 31-19-2-1). Indiana sets no minimum age gap between the two adults. One extra condition applies where the person being adopted is a lifetime sex or violent offender (IC 31-19-2-1.1).

Which court handles an adult adoption in Indiana?

The court having jurisdiction in probate matters, and the petition may be filed in any county in Indiana (IC 31-19-2-1). In a county that has a separate probate court, that probate court has exclusive jurisdiction in all adoption matters (IC 31-19-1-2). Elsewhere the circuit or superior court exercises probate jurisdiction.

Which spouse has to sign for an Indiana adult adoption?

The adopting person's husband or wife must join in the action rather than merely consent, unless that spouse is the adoptee's biological or adoptive parent and files an acknowledged consent (IC 31-19-2-4). The adult being adopted is asked for no spousal consent, because the consent chapter reaches only a child under eighteen (IC 31-19-9-1).

How does the adult being adopted give consent in Indiana?

The consent of the individual must be acknowledged in open court (IC 31-19-2-1). A signature dropped off with the clerk is not what the section describes. Both the adopting person and the adult being adopted should plan to appear before the judge who hears the petition and speak to it on the record.

Indiana adult adoption at a glance

An Indiana adult adoption is a court order that makes one adult the permanent legal parent of another adult, carrying the inheritance and next of kin consequences of a parent and child relationship. Indiana compresses the whole rule into one sentence of one section. IC 31-19-2-1 lets any individual at least eighteen years of age be adopted by a resident of Indiana, on petition to the court having jurisdiction in probate matters in any county in the state, with the consent of that individual acknowledged in open court. There are no qualifying categories and no minimum age gap. A married petitioner's husband or wife must join in the action. Investigation is left to the judge, and the $20 adoption history fee and $50 putative father registry fee do not attach to an adult petition.

An uncle in Fort Wayne adopting the nephew he raised

Suppose the nephew you brought up from his teens is now thirty six and wants you recorded as his legal parent. Indiana asks him to fit no category at all. He is over eighteen, you are a resident of Indiana, and IC 31-19-2-1 says nothing about the gap in your ages. You file in Allen County, though that section would equally let you file in any county in Indiana. Your wife joins the petition with you under IC 31-19-2-4. At the hearing he acknowledges his consent in open court. Because an uncle and a nephew are related within the sixth degree, IC 29-1-2-8 lets him take inheritance through his natural parents or through you, whichever is greater in value at each death. Attorney review of the petition is available through DocDraft.

Relevant Laws

Ind. Code 31-19-2-1 (adoption of a person at least eighteen)

The whole adult adoption rule. An individual at least eighteen years of age may be adopted by a resident of Indiana, on petition to the court having jurisdiction in probate matters in any county in Indiana, with that individual's consent acknowledged in open court. Subsection (b) makes investigation discretionary.

Ind. Code 31-19-2-4 (joinder by the petitioner's spouse)

Provides that a petition for adoption by a married person may not be granted unless the husband and wife join in the action, and excuses joinder only where the petitioner is married to the biological or adoptive parent and an acknowledged consent from that parent is filed with the petition.

Ind. Code 31-19-9-1 (consent chapter, limited to a child under eighteen)

Opens by limiting itself to a petition to adopt a child who is less than eighteen years of age, then lists the consents required, including the spouse of a married adoptee. Because of that opening limit, none of these requirements reach an adult adoption.

Ind. Code 31-19-2-8 (the two department fees an adult petition avoids)

Requires a $20 adoption history fee and a $50 putative father registry fee payable to the Indiana department of health, and expressly disapplies both where the petitioner seeks under IC 31-19-2-1 to adopt a person who is at least eighteen years of age.

Ind. Code 29-1-2-8 (inheritance by an adopted person)

For all purposes of intestate succession an adopted person is treated as a natural child of the adopting parents and ceases to be treated as a child of the natural parents, subject to an exception where a natural parent marries the adopting parent and an exception for adopters related within the sixth degree.

Regional Variances

Indiana adult adoption rules at a glance

Who may be adopted

Any individual at least eighteen years of age, with no enumerated categories (IC 31-19-2-1). An adoptee who is a lifetime sex or violent offender must also meet the conditions in IC 31-19-2-1.1 before the court may grant the petition.

Age relationship

Indiana states no minimum number of years between the two adults and does not require the person being adopted to be younger. A sweep of all twenty nine chapters of IC 31-19 found no age differential language anywhere in the article.

Consent of the adoptee

Required, and the form matters. IC 31-19-2-1 calls for the consent of the individual acknowledged in open court, rather than a written consent executed before the clerk as the minor route uses.

Consent of the adopting person's spouse

Joinder, not consent. A petition by a married person may not be granted unless husband and wife join in the action (IC 31-19-2-4). Joinder is excused only where that spouse is the adoptee's biological or adoptive parent and files an acknowledged consent.

Consent of the adoptee's spouse

Not required. The only provision asking for a married adoptee's spousal consent is IC 31-19-9-1, which by its opening words governs a petition to adopt a child less than eighteen years of age. Treat that as a scope limit rather than an express waiver.

Birth parents

No consent and no notice requirement in the article reaches an adult adoptee, because the consent chapter is limited to a child under eighteen. The decree still relieves and divests the biological parents and ends the parent and child relationship (IC 31-19-15-1).

Court and venue

The court having jurisdiction in probate matters, in any county in Indiana (IC 31-19-2-1). Where a county has a separate probate court, that court has exclusive jurisdiction in all adoption matters (IC 31-19-1-2). There is no family court route.

Residency

The person adopting must be a resident of Indiana. No length of residence is stated, and no county residency applies because venue is open to any county in the state.

Filing fee

No adoption specific statewide figure. The clerk collects a $100 civil costs fee (IC 33-37-4-4) plus a $20 automated record keeping fee (IC 33-37-5-21) and other statutory add ons. The $120 probate costs fee is keyed to IC 29 and IC 30 filings, not adoption.

Investigation

Discretionary for an adult. The court may order the type of investigation used in a minor adoption, or any other inquiry it considers advisable (IC 31-19-2-1). The medical report in IC 31-19-2-7 is expressly disapplied to an adult petition.

Name change

Requested in the petition (IC 31-19-2-6) and taken on entry of the decree (IC 31-19-11-4). Where the adoptee is a lifetime sex or violent offender intending a name change, written notice must go to law enforcement in the county of conviction and the county of residence.

Inheritance

The adopted person is treated as a natural child of the adopting parents for all purposes of intestate succession and ceases to be treated as a child of the natural parents (IC 29-1-2-8), subject to the stepparent and sixth degree kinship exceptions in that section.

Birth certificate

A new certificate of birth issues after the adoption unless the court, the adoptive parents, or the adopted individual asks that it not (IC 31-19-13-1). The new certificate shows the actual place and date of birth.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Confirm the age and residency conditions

Before you draft anything days after starting

Check that the person to be adopted is at least eighteen years of age and that the person adopting is a resident of Indiana, which are the only two conditions IC 31-19-2-1 imposes on the pairing. Confirm whether IC 31-19-2-1.1 applies to the adoptee.

Choose the county and the court

Before filing days after starting

Identify the court with jurisdiction in probate matters in the county you want. IC 31-19-2-1 allows any county in Indiana. Where the county has a separate probate court, that court holds exclusive jurisdiction over adoption under IC 31-19-1-2.

Draft the petition for adoption

First document to prepare days after starting

Include every item IC 31-19-2-6 lists, including the new name if one is wanted, property held by the person being adopted, your marriage date and place, and any felony or child safety misdemeanor conviction. Attorney review of the petition is available through DocDraft.

Add your spouse as a joining petitioner

With the petition days after starting

If you are married, prepare the petition so that husband and wife join in the action, as IC 31-19-2-4 requires. Use the acknowledged consent route instead only where your spouse is already the biological or adoptive parent of the person being adopted.

Prepare the adoptee's consent for the hearing

Before the hearing date days after starting

IC 31-19-2-1 calls for the consent of the individual to be acknowledged in open court, so prepare it to be given on the record rather than filed and forgotten. Confirm with the court how it wants that consent presented at the hearing.

File and pay the clerk

When the papers are signed days after starting

File with the clerk of the chosen court and pay the $100 civil costs fee under IC 33-37-4-4, the $20 automated record keeping fee under IC 33-37-5-21, and any other add on fees the clerk collects. Leave out the two fees IC 31-19-2-8 disapplies.

Attend the hearing and settle the birth record

On your hearing date days after starting

Both of you appear so the consent is acknowledged in open court and the judge can order any inquiry considered advisable. Afterwards decide whether to let the Indiana department of health issue a new certificate of birth or to ask that it not, under IC 31-19-13-1.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Dealing With Debt Collectors in Indiana (2026)

Expunging a Criminal Record in Indiana (2026)

Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Indiana

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Adult Adoption in Indiana - DocDraft