How to Adopt an Adult in Mississippi
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Mississippi · Last updated October 7, 2026
Mississippi puts no category list on who may be adopted as an adult and then hands adults almost no automatic exemptions, and that combination is the whole shape of this state. Adult adoption here is a chancery court proceeding that permanently makes one adult the legal parent of another adult, carrying the inheritance and next of kin consequences that follow. Miss. Code 93-17-3(4) provides that any person may be adopted. There is no disability condition, no former stepchild or foster condition, and no minimum number of years between the two adults. The same subsection then states that the word child in that section refers to the person being adopted, though an adult. That one clause pulls an adult inside requirements that read as though written for children: a home study, a physician's or nurse practitioner's certificate on the adult's physical and mental condition, a sworn statement of any property the adult owns, and interstate compact compliance if the adopting person lives outside Mississippi. Relief exists but it is discretionary. Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) provides that a chancellor may waive those requirements for an adult adoptee who consents, and a 2025 bill to change may into shall died. Where no waiver is granted and a home study is ordered, Miss. Code 93-17-12 makes a minimum $350 per household fee mandatory. Mississippi also still sets its general age of majority at 21 under Miss. Code 1-3-27, so a person aged 18 to 20 is a minor in this state. A petitioner who is married and living with a spouse must have that spouse join the petition rather than simply consent. Attorney review of your petition is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Mississippi
Who are you hoping to adopt?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Who can be adopted as an adult in Mississippi?
Any person may be adopted under Miss. Code 93-17-3(4), with no list of qualifying categories, no disability condition and no minimum age gap. Mississippi does not even require the adult being adopted to be younger than the adopting adult. The subsection adds that child there means the person being adopted, though an adult.
Which court handles an adult adoption in Mississippi?
The chancery court. Miss. Code 93-17-3(4) requires a sworn petition filed in the chancery court of the county where the adopting petitioner or petitioners reside, or where the adult being adopted resides or was born. Miss. Code 93-17-17 treats the chancery court as a court of general jurisdiction for this chapter.
What does it cost to file an adult adoption in Mississippi?
The chancery clerk fee is $85 under Miss. Code 25-7-9(2), plus $10 for the Comprehensive Electronic Court Systems Fund and $40 for the Judicial System Operation Fund, which totals $135. A separate $5 civil legal assistance line applies to each civil filing, and process and publication costs are charged on top.
Is a home study required for an adult adoption in Mississippi?
Sometimes. Miss. Code 93-17-3(5) bars adoption of any person before a court ordered or voluntary home study is satisfactorily completed, and that language reaches adults. Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) lets a chancellor waive it for an adult adoptee who consents. Where one is ordered, Miss. Code 93-17-12 sets a minimum $350 per household fee.
Mississippi adult adoption at a glance
An adult adoption in Mississippi is a chancery court decree that makes one adult the permanent legal parent of another adult, vesting both with all the rights, powers, duties and obligations as if the adult had been born to the adopting parents in lawful wedlock (Miss. Code 93-17-13). Eligibility is wide open. Any person may be adopted, with no enumerated conditions and no age gap (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). What Mississippi withholds is automatic relief. That same section tells the court to read child as the person being adopted, though an adult, so the home study, the medical certificate and the interstate compact all reach an adult unless the chancellor waives them under Miss. Code 93-17-3(9). Mississippi also keeps its general age of majority at 21.
Adopting an adult you care for, and asking a Lafayette County chancellor to waive the study
Suppose you and your husband in Oxford want to adopt the 29 year old man you have cared for since he aged out of foster care, so that he inherits from you and is recognised as your son. Mississippi asks him to fit no category at all (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). Because you live together, your husband must join the petition rather than merely consent. He signs a sworn consent. You attach a nurse practitioner's certificate on his physical and mental condition and a sworn statement that he owns no property. Because a home study would otherwise cost a minimum of $350 per household (Miss. Code 93-17-12), your petition asks the chancellor to waive subsections (4) through (7) under Miss. Code 93-17-3(9), and to find the six month wait unnecessary. You pay $135. Attorney review of your petition is available through DocDraft.
Relevant Laws
Miss. Code 93-17-3 (who may be adopted, chancery court, and the adult waiver)
Provides in subsection (4) that any person may be adopted, fixes chancery court venue, requires the physician's or nurse practitioner's certificate, gives the court power to change the name, and states that child in that section means the person being adopted, though an adult. Subsection (9) is the discretionary adult waiver.
Miss. Code 93-17-5 (parties to the proceeding and consent)
Lists who must be made parties by process or by sworn consent, including the parents, and provides in subsection (3) that a person over fourteen must give a sworn or acknowledged consent or else be personally served. The section contains no adult specific exception.
Miss. Code 93-17-13 (final decree, waiting period and inheritance)
Sets the six month interlocutory waiting period and its discretionary escape, and has the final decree adjudicate the inheritance effects in both directions, the name change if desired, and the termination of the natural parents' rights except where a natural parent is married to the adopter.
Miss. Code 93-17-11 and 93-17-12 (investigation, home study and its fee)
Section 93-17-11 lets the court order an investigation in its discretion and requires a home study in adoptions other than those by a relative or stepparent. Section 93-17-12 provides that in all adoptions the court shall impose a home study fee of not less than $350 for each household.
Miss. Code 25-7-9 (chancery clerk fees, including adoption)
Sets an $85 total clerk fee for a civil case that includes an adoption not involving the Department of Child Protection Services, adds $10 for the Comprehensive Electronic Court Systems Fund and $40 for the Judicial System Operation Fund, lists a $5 civil legal assistance line, and leaves process costs to the filing party.
Regional Variances
Mississippi adult adoption rules at a glance
Who may be adopted
Any person, with no enumerated conditions (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). No disability route, no former stepchild or foster route, and no bar on adopting a spouse appears in the chapter. A 2025 bill proposing to replace this with a four item category list for adults died.
Age of majority
21 for most statutory purposes (Miss. Code 1-3-27), and the same for the term infant (Miss. Code 1-3-21). A person aged 18 to 20 is a minor in Mississippi. Two 2026 bills proposing 18 failed, one in committee and one in the House.
Age relationship
No requirement at all. Chapter 17 contains no minimum number of years between the parties and does not require the person being adopted to be younger. A sweep of all 20 sections of article 1 returned no occurrence of older, younger or any age differential language.
Consent of the person being adopted
A consent sworn to or acknowledged, or personal service instead, for anyone over fourteen (Miss. Code 93-17-5(3)). Consent also matters practically, because the waiver in Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) is available only for adult adoptees who consent to the adoption.
Spouse of the adopting person
Must join in the petition, not merely consent, unless that spouse does not cohabit or reside with the petitioning spouse (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). The same subsection provides that only the consenting adult will be a legal parent of the person adopted.
Spouse of the person being adopted
No statutory role. A sweep of all 20 sections of article 1 found six uses of spouse, four of them about the petitioner's spouse in Miss. Code 93-17-3(4) and two about a natural parent married to the adopter in Miss. Code 93-17-13(2)(d). Husband and wife do not appear.
Birth parents
Made parties by process or sworn consent with no adult exception stated (Miss. Code 93-17-5(1)(a)), and the Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) waiver does not reach that section. The power to block an adoption by objecting runs to an infant only (Miss. Code 93-17-7(1)). Confirm the practice with your chancery clerk.
Court and venue
Chancery court, treated as a court of general jurisdiction for this chapter (Miss. Code 93-17-17). File in the county where the petitioner or petitioners reside, or where the person being adopted resides or was born (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). A 2026 bill to give county courts concurrent jurisdiction died.
Residency
The six consecutive months rule in Miss. Code 93-17-3(1) is written for the adoption of a minor, and the subsection (4) construction clause converts only the word child. A 2025 bill to extend subsection (1) to adults died. No durational figure is published here for an adult adoption.
Filing fee
$135 in statute: $85 under Miss. Code 25-7-9(2) plus $10 under (3)(a) and $40 under (3)(b). A $5 civil legal assistance line applies to each civil filing under (1)(j). Process and publication costs are borne by the issuing party under (4).
Home study and investigation
Miss. Code 93-17-3(5) bars adoption of any person before a home study is completed and reaches adults through the subsection (4) construction clause. Only Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) relieves it, and only at the chancellor's discretion. Where ordered, Miss. Code 93-17-12 makes a minimum $350 per household fee mandatory.
Petition attachments
A physician's or nurse practitioner's certificate on the physical and mental condition of the person being adopted, a sworn statement of any property owned, and affidavits of agency or facilitator fees and other adoption expenses (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). All sit inside the subsection (9) waiver list.
Waiting period
Six months from an interlocutory decree, with an escape where the chancellor finds the wait unnecessary for the court, the petitioners or the person being adopted, allowing an immediate final decree with no interlocutory decree (Miss. Code 93-17-13(1)). Chapter 17 cases are docketed as priority cases (Miss. Code 93-17-3(10)).
Name change
Available in the same proceeding (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)) and adjudicated in the final decree if desired (Miss. Code 93-17-13(2)(c)). A certified copy goes to the Bureau of Vital Statistics for a revised birth certificate (Miss. Code 93-17-21). A separate 2026 statute restricts name changes by registered sex offenders.
Inheritance
Full and mutual, as if the person had been born to the adopting parents in lawful wedlock, extending to the adopting parents' other children on a full blood sibling footing and to rights under Miss. Code 11-7-13 (Miss. Code 93-17-13(2)(a), (b)). No carve out keyed to the adoptee's age appears.
Confidentiality
Docket entries and decrees must not name the natural parents or the original name (Miss. Code 93-17-29), and the chancery clerk keeps a separate confidential index and a separate docket and minute book (Miss. Code 93-17-31). Neither section carves out adult adoptions.
Forms
Not verified. The Mississippi judiciary website was unavailable when this page was prepared, so no statement is made about statewide adoption forms. The chapter prescribes the content of a sworn petition rather than a numbered form, so ask your chancery clerk what that court expects.
Suggested Compliance Checklist
Confirm the person is 21 or older
Before you draft anything days after startingMississippi includes any person under 21 in the terms minor and infant (Miss. Code 1-3-27, 1-3-21), and 2026 bills to lower that failed. If the person is 18 to 20, the minor adoption requirements govern and the adult waiver in Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) is unavailable.
Settle whether your spouse joins as a petitioner
Before the petition is drafted days after startingMiss. Code 93-17-3(4) requires a married petitioner's spouse to join in the petition unless that spouse does not cohabit or reside with the petitioning spouse. Decide which route applies, and note that only the consenting adult becomes a legal parent of the person adopted.
Obtain the sworn consent
Before filing days after startingPrepare a consent sworn to or acknowledged by the adult being adopted (Miss. Code 93-17-5(3)). Consent also unlocks the only adult relief in the chapter, because Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) applies to adult adoptees who consent to the adoption. Attorney review of the consent is available through DocDraft.
Collect the certificate and the property statement
With the consent days after startingGet a physician's or nurse practitioner's certificate showing the physical and mental condition of the adult being adopted, and a sworn statement of all property the adult owns, plus affidavits of any agency or facilitator fees and other adoption expenses (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)).
Draft the sworn petition with the waiver request in it
Before filing days after startingAsk the chancellor expressly to waive the petition and procedural requirements in Miss. Code 93-17-3 subsections (4) through (7) under subsection (9), and to find the six month wait unnecessary under Miss. Code 93-17-13(1). State your reasons for both requests in the petition.
File in chancery court and pay $135
When the papers are signed days after startingFile the sworn petition in the chancery court of the county where you reside, or where the adult being adopted resides or was born (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). Pay $85 under Miss. Code 25-7-9(2) plus $10 and $40 under subsection (3). Process costs are charged separately.
Budget for a home study in case the waiver is refused
Before the hearing days after startingIf the chancellor declines to waive Miss. Code 93-17-3(5), a home study is required and Miss. Code 93-17-12 makes a fee of not less than $350 for each household mandatory. Miss. Code 93-17-13(3) then bars the final decree until that study is satisfactorily completed.
Check the decree and send it to Vital Statistics
After the hearing days after startingConfirm the final decree adjudicates the inheritance effects and the name change if wanted (Miss. Code 93-17-13(2)). Then furnish a certified copy and the clerk's certificate to the Bureau of Vital Statistics so a revised birth certificate can be prepared (Miss. Code 93-17-21).
| Task | Description | Document | Days after starting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirm the person is 21 or older | Mississippi includes any person under 21 in the terms minor and infant (Miss. Code 1-3-27, 1-3-21), and 2026 bills to lower that failed. If the person is 18 to 20, the minor adoption requirements govern and the adult waiver in Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) is unavailable. | - | Before you draft anything |
| Settle whether your spouse joins as a petitioner | Miss. Code 93-17-3(4) requires a married petitioner's spouse to join in the petition unless that spouse does not cohabit or reside with the petitioning spouse. Decide which route applies, and note that only the consenting adult becomes a legal parent of the person adopted. | - | Before the petition is drafted |
| Obtain the sworn consent | Prepare a consent sworn to or acknowledged by the adult being adopted (Miss. Code 93-17-5(3)). Consent also unlocks the only adult relief in the chapter, because Miss. Code 93-17-3(9) applies to adult adoptees who consent to the adoption. Attorney review of the consent is available through DocDraft. | - | Before filing |
| Collect the certificate and the property statement | Get a physician's or nurse practitioner's certificate showing the physical and mental condition of the adult being adopted, and a sworn statement of all property the adult owns, plus affidavits of any agency or facilitator fees and other adoption expenses (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). | - | With the consent |
| Draft the sworn petition with the waiver request in it | Ask the chancellor expressly to waive the petition and procedural requirements in Miss. Code 93-17-3 subsections (4) through (7) under subsection (9), and to find the six month wait unnecessary under Miss. Code 93-17-13(1). State your reasons for both requests in the petition. | - | Before filing |
| File in chancery court and pay $135 | File the sworn petition in the chancery court of the county where you reside, or where the adult being adopted resides or was born (Miss. Code 93-17-3(4)). Pay $85 under Miss. Code 25-7-9(2) plus $10 and $40 under subsection (3). Process costs are charged separately. | - | When the papers are signed |
| Budget for a home study in case the waiver is refused | If the chancellor declines to waive Miss. Code 93-17-3(5), a home study is required and Miss. Code 93-17-12 makes a fee of not less than $350 for each household mandatory. Miss. Code 93-17-13(3) then bars the final decree until that study is satisfactorily completed. | - | Before the hearing |
| Check the decree and send it to Vital Statistics | Confirm the final decree adjudicates the inheritance effects and the name change if wanted (Miss. Code 93-17-13(2)). Then furnish a certified copy and the clerk's certificate to the Bureau of Vital Statistics so a revised birth certificate can be prepared (Miss. Code 93-17-21). | - | After the hearing |
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Mississippi guides
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Asset Protection Planning in Mississippi (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in Mississippi (2026)
Expunging a Criminal Record in Mississippi (2026)
Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Mississippi
Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Mississippi (2026)
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