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How to Adopt an Adult in Oklahoma

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

Oklahoma governs adult adoption with one short statute that works mostly by subtraction. An adult adoption is a court case that permanently makes one adult the legal parent of another adult, with the inheritance and next of kin consequences that follow. Title 10, section 7507-1.1 says an adult person may be adopted by any other adult person. There is no list of qualifying categories, no disability requirement, no former stepchild or former foster requirement and no minimum age gap. The statute does not even require the person being adopted to be younger. The same sentence then declares that sections 9 through 36 of the 1997 Adoption Code act, which are the codified sections 7503-2.1 through 7505-6.4, do not apply to the adoption of a competent adult person. That single clause removes the home study, the interlocutory decree, the six month waiting period, the birth parent consent machinery and the statutory petition contents list. Two consents remain. The adult being adopted consents, or that adult's guardian consents and the court approves. If the adopting person is married, that spouse signs a written consent and it is filed with the court. The spouse of the adult being adopted is asked for nothing at all. You file in the district court for the county where the adopting parents live, pay a $105 flat fee plus fixed statutory assessments, and attend a hearing at which the judge may order whatever investigation the court considers advisable. Attorney review of your documents is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in Oklahoma

Who are you hoping to adopt?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

Who can be adopted as an adult in Oklahoma?

Any adult may be adopted by any other adult (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). The statute attaches no qualifying categories, so a disability, a former stepchild relationship or a foster history is not needed. It also sets no minimum age gap and does not require the person being adopted to be younger.

Whose consent does Oklahoma require for an adult adoption?

Two consents. The adult being adopted consents, or that adult's guardian consents and the court approves. If the adopting person has a spouse, that spouse consents in writing and the consent is filed with the court (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). Birth parents and the adoptee's spouse are not asked.

What does it cost to file an adult adoption in Oklahoma?

The district court clerk collects a $105 flat fee for an adoption (28 O.S. 152(A)(8)), plus fixed statutory assessments of $6, $25, $10, $2 and $10, which total $158 through November 1, 2027. A county may add up to $10 for courthouse security.

Is a home study required for an adult adoption in Oklahoma?

No, where the person being adopted is a competent adult. Section 7507-1.1 makes sections 9 through 36 of the 1997 Adoption Code act inapplicable, and the four mandatory home study sections sit inside that range. The judge may still order whatever investigation the court considers advisable.

Oklahoma adult adoption at a glance

An adult adoption in Oklahoma is a district court decree that makes one adult the permanent legal parent of another adult, creating the full parent and child relation with the adoptive parents and their kindred (10 O.S. 7505-6.5). Eligibility is wide open. An adult person may be adopted by any other adult person, with no category list and no minimum years between them (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). What makes Oklahoma unusual is the second sentence of that statute, which declares sections 9 through 36 of the 1997 Adoption Code act inapplicable to the adoption of a competent adult person. Home study, interlocutory decree, six month wait, birth parent consent and the petition contents list all drop out at once. Note the word competent. It is the hinge, and it is doing real work.

A Tulsa County widower and a 44 year old son

The filer here is a widower of 61 in Tulsa County, and the man he wants recorded as his son is 44 and married. His late wife brought the boy into the house at fifteen, and the two men kept the relationship going for three decades after that. Oklahoma makes him prove no category, no shared household period and no gap in years, because 10 O.S. 7507-1.1 asks only that both be adults. He is no longer married, so no spousal consent arises at all. The son signs a consent; the son's wife is never asked for one. The son is competent, so sections 9 through 36 fall away and no study and no waiting period attach. He files in Tulsa County district court, pays $105 plus assessments, and the decree leaves each able to inherit from and through the other.

Relevant Laws

10 O.S. 7507-1.1 (adult adoptions)

The entire Oklahoma adult adoption statute. It permits any adult to be adopted by any other adult, names the adoptee or guardian consent and the adopting spouse's written consent, fixes venue in the district court of the adopters' county, and makes sections 9 through 36 of the act inapplicable to a competent adult.

10 O.S. 7505-6.5 (effect of the final decree)

The consequences section that 7507-1.1 expressly carries into an adult adoption. It creates the parent and child relation with the adoptive parents and their kindred, lets each inherit from and through the other, and preserves any property right vested before the decree becomes final.

28 O.S. 152 (district court flat fee schedule)

Sets the adoption filing fee at $105 in subsection A paragraph 8, with no qualifier limiting it to a child, and adds the fixed assessments in subsections B through G. Subsection H provides the affidavit in forma pauperis route. Last amended effective November 1, 2025.

10 O.S. 7501-1.3 and 7503-1.1 (definitions and eligibility to adopt)

The Adoption Code defines an adult as an individual who has attained eighteen years of age. The eligibility section lists who may adopt, including a husband and wife jointly where both are at least twenty one, and it is one section outside the range 7507-1.1 sets aside.

12 O.S. 1631 to 1634 (change of name)

The separate civil action for a change of name, requiring more than thirty days of domicile in the state and thirty days of residence in the county, a verified petition, and one newspaper publication at least ten days before the hearing, which the court may waive for good cause.

Regional Variances

Oklahoma adult adoption rules at a glance

Who may be adopted

Any adult, by any other adult (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). No enumerated categories, no disability predicate, no former stepchild or foster predicate. An adult is anyone who has attained eighteen years of age (10 O.S. 7501-1.3).

Age relationship

No minimum number of years, and no requirement that the person being adopted be younger. A sweep of the full Adoption Code returns no provision stating a gap between the adopting adult and the adult being adopted.

Consent of the adult being adopted

Required, in the form of the consent of the person to be adopted or his guardian, if the court shall approve (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). The Adoption Code prescribes no consent form, because its consent sections are set aside for a competent adult.

Consent of the adopting person's spouse

Required in writing and filed with the court (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). The adult statute asks for consent rather than joinder, while the general eligibility section 10 O.S. 7503-1.1 requires a husband and wife to adopt jointly and is not set aside. Confirm locally.

Spouse of the adult being adopted

Nothing required. No consent, no joinder, no notice. Every reference to a spouse, husband or wife across the Oklahoma Adoption Code concerns a petitioner, an adoptive parent, a birth parent or the stepparent definition. None concerns the adoptee's spouse.

Birth parents

No consent and no notice provision reaches a competent adult adoption. The who may consent section, 10 O.S. 7503-2.1, opens with the words a minor may be adopted and is the first section inside the range 7507-1.1 sets aside.

The statutory set aside

Section 7507-1.1 declares sections 9 through 36 of the 1997 Adoption Code act inapplicable to the adoption of a competent adult person. Those are the codified sections 7503-2.1 through 7505-6.4, twenty eight consecutive sections of consent, notice, study and decree machinery.

Court and venue

The district court in the county where the adoptive parents reside (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). Oklahoma has a unified trial court, so there is no probate or family division of general adoption jurisdiction. The broader general venue section, 10 O.S. 7502-1.2, is keyed to a child.

Residency

No durational requirement. The Adoption Code contains no months in state or months in county period for an adoption petitioner. Only the county of residence matters, and it is the adopting parents' county that fixes where to file.

Filing fee

$105 flat fee for an adoption (28 O.S. 152(A)(8)), plus assessments of $6 law library, $25 court information system, $10 court appointed special advocates, $2 judicial complaints and interpreters, and $10 records management through November 1, 2027. A county may add up to $10 for courthouse security.

Home study and investigation

The four mandatory home study sections, 10 O.S. 7505-5.1 through 7505-5.4, all sit inside the set aside range, and the first of them is keyed to a minor anyway. In their place 7507-1.1 allows such investigation as the court deems advisable.

Waiting period

None for a competent adult. The interlocutory decree at 10 O.S. 7505-6.1 and the six month period after it at 7505-6.3 are both set aside, and that six month clock runs from an order giving care and custody of a minor to the petitioners.

Petition contents

No statutory list for a competent adult. The contents section, 10 O.S. 7505-3.1, is set aside, and section 7507-1.1 says only that a petition shall be filed. Ask the district court clerk what that court requires before you draft.

Name change

Not expressly authorized in the decree for a competent adult. The Adoption Code's name provision is the petition item in 10 O.S. 7505-3.1, which is set aside, while 7505-6.6 still refers to a supplementary birth certificate in the new name. Title 12, section 1631 is the separate route.

Records and confidentiality

The Adoption Code's confidentiality section, 10 O.S. 7505-1.1, is inside the set aside range, so it is not among the provisions 7507-1.1 carries into a competent adult adoption. Ask the court clerk how that district handles the file before you assume either way.

Inheritance

The decree carries the consequences in 10 O.S. 7505-6.5: full parent and child relation with the adoptive parents and their kindred, and inheritance from and through each other under the statutes of descent and distribution. No reduction applies because the adoptee was an adult.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Confirm the ages and the competence question

Before you draft anything days after starting

Verify both parties have attained eighteen years of age (10 O.S. 7501-1.3). Then settle whether the adult being adopted will consent personally or through a guardian, because 7507-1.1 sets sections 9 through 36 aside only for a competent adult person.

Check the district court clerk's local requirements

Before drafting the petition days after starting

Because 10 O.S. 7505-3.1 is set aside for a competent adult, no statute lists what the petition must contain. Call the clerk for the county where the adopting parents reside and ask about local filing practice, cover sheets and whether the court wants a spouse named as a petitioner.

Draft the consent of the adult being adopted

First document to prepare days after starting

Prepare a signed written consent from the adult being adopted, or from that adult's guardian, as 10 O.S. 7507-1.1 requires subject to the court's approval. Attorney review of the consent is available through DocDraft.

Draft your spouse's written consent

Before filing days after starting

If you are married, prepare the consent of the spouse of an adoptive parent so it can be filed in writing with the court (10 O.S. 7507-1.1). Keep it separate from the petition, since the statute asks for a filed consent rather than joinder.

Draft the petition for adoption of an adult

With the consents days after starting

Identify both parties and their ages, plead the county of residence that fixes venue, describe the relationship and the reason for the adoption, and ask for a decree with the consequences stated in 10 O.S. 7505-6.5. Attorney review of the petition is available through DocDraft.

File the petition and pay the fee

When the papers are signed days after starting

File with the district court in the county where the adoptive parents reside. The clerk collects the $105 adoption flat fee plus the statutory assessments (28 O.S. 152). If poverty prevents payment, file an affidavit in forma pauperis under subsection H instead.

Attend the hearing and request the decree

On your hearing date days after starting

Be ready for the court to order an investigation, which 10 O.S. 7507-1.1 leaves to its discretion. Ask the judge to find the adoption is in the best interests of the people involved and to enter a decree of adoption.

Follow up on the certificate and any name change

Within thirty days of the decree days after starting

Confirm the clerk certifies the certificate of the decree on the State Registrar's form within thirty days of finality (10 O.S. 7505-6.6). If a new surname is wanted, start the separate change of name action under 12 O.S. 1631.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Oklahoma guides

Adverse Possession in Oklahoma: Fifteen Years and Title by Prescription

Asset Protection Planning in Oklahoma (2026)

Dealing With Debt Collectors in Oklahoma (2026)

Expunging a Criminal Record in Oklahoma (2026)

Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Oklahoma

Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Oklahoma (2026)

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