To adopt a child in Georgia, you file a petition in Superior Court after meeting the state’s age and residency requirements, complete a home study, obtain the surrender or termination of the biological parents’ rights, get through a supervised post-placement period, and appear at a final hearing where a judge decides whether the adoption is in the child’s best interest. Each step has its own timing and paperwork, and small mistakes can push the case back months.
Who Can Adopt in Georgia
Three baseline rules decide whether you can file at all. You must be at least 21 years old, or married and living with your spouse. You must be at least ten years older than the child, unless you are the child’s stepparent or a relative, in which case that age gap does not apply. And you must be a bona fide Georgia resident when the petition is filed.1Justia. Georgia Code Title 19 Domestic Relations 19-8-3 There is no minimum length of residency; you only have to live in Georgia at the time you file.
Non-residents can petition in narrow circumstances. If you live in another state and the child was born in Georgia or is a Georgia resident, you can file so long as the placement complies with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. The same route is available to petitioners living outside the country.2Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family & Children Services. Adopting in Georgia
On top of the statutory minimums, the judge at the final hearing must find that each petitioner is financially, physically, and mentally capable of taking permanent custody. That finding leans heavily on the home study.
Filing the Petition
Every adoption petition goes to Superior Court, and you file in the county where you live. For good cause, the court can allow filing in the county where the child lives, where the child was born (within one year of birth), or where the agency or Department of Human Services office holding legal custody is located.
The petition has to include specific information about you (full name, age, date and place of birth, marital status, residence) and about the child (the name the child will carry after adoption, sex, date and place of birth, citizenship or immigration status, and when and how the child was placed with you). It also has to disclose whether the child has any living parents, a guardian, a legal custodian, or any property.3Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-13 – Petition, Filing and Contents, Financial Disclosures, Attorneys Affidavit You and your attorney have a continuing duty to notify the court of any other adoption or custody proceeding, in any state or country, that could affect the case.
Independent adoptions (arranged privately rather than through an agency) require a detailed financial accounting in the petition itself. That means every payment connected to the adoption: birth expenses, legal fees for the biological mother, counseling, medical care, and anything else of value exchanged directly or indirectly.4FindLaw. Georgia Code Title 19 Domestic Relations 19-8-13 Courts read these disclosures closely to guard against unlawful baby-selling.
Filing fees usually run about $200 to $220, and the exact amount varies by county. Incomplete paperwork is a common reason for delay or dismissal, so it is worth having an attorney review everything before it goes to the clerk.
The Home Study
Most adoptions require a home study conducted by a licensed adoption agency. The agency must make at least three visits on separate days, with at least one visit in your home and every household member present and interviewed. Prospective parents are interviewed together and individually. The evaluation covers your motivation to adopt, your health history, your parenting skills, your emotional stability, your finances, and the physical safety of the home, including whether firearms are locked away from children and whether working smoke alarms are on every level.
A criminal records check and a check of the state’s child abuse and neglect registry are part of the study. Adoptions through state placement or foster care also require fingerprinting through the Georgia Applicant Processing Service. The agency collects at least three character references: one from a relative and two from non-relatives.
An approved home study does not last forever. If a child is not placed with you within a year of approval, the study has to be updated before placement can happen. That update requires at least one new home visit and current information on employment, medical status, and any change in who lives in the home.
Stepparent and relative adoptions can follow a different track. Georgia law does not require the same agency-conducted home study in those cases, though the court still weighs the petitioner’s fitness at the hearing.
Consent or Termination of Parental Rights
No adoption moves forward unless every living parent and guardian has either voluntarily surrendered rights or had rights terminated by court order. A voluntary surrender must be signed under oath, in the presence of a notary public and an adult witness, and the person signing receives a copy at the time of execution.5Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-4 – Adoption Through the Department, Child-Placing Agency, or Out-of-State Licensed Agency
In agency and independent adoptions, a parent may sign after the child is born. Georgia also allows a pre-birth surrender, but the signer still gets a separate four-day revocation window counted from the date of signing, regardless of when the child is actually born.6Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-5 – Third Party Adoption
The Four-Day Revocation Window
After signing a surrender, a parent has an unconditional right to revoke it within four days. Those four days run consecutively, starting the day after signing. If the fourth day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Revocation must be in writing and delivered in person or sent by registered mail or statutory overnight delivery to the address in the surrender document. In-person delivery has to arrive by 5:00 p.m. on the fourth day; mailed revocations have to be handed to the postal service or overnight carrier by midnight on the fourth day.7Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-9 – Revocation of Surrender of Rights
After the four days pass, the surrender cannot be revoked. The statute is unambiguous on that point.
Stepparent Adoptions
When a stepparent adopts, the non-custodial biological parent must surrender rights to the stepparent specifically for the adoption, and the custodial parent must consent. If only one parent is living, that parent’s consent alone is enough. The oath, notary, witness, and four-day revocation rules all still apply.8Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-6 – Stepparent Adoption
When a Parent Will Not Consent
If a parent will not voluntarily surrender rights, the court can terminate them involuntarily on statutory grounds such as abandonment or chronic abuse or neglect. The petitioner carries the burden of proof, and the final decree has to include specific findings of fact when it relies on involuntary termination.
Consent of the Child
A child aged 14 or older has to give written consent to the adoption, acknowledged in front of the court.8Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-6 – Stepparent Adoption That applies across adoption types. A teenager’s refusal will be taken seriously by the judge.
The Putative Father Registry
Georgia keeps a putative father registry for men who believe they may be a child’s biological father but are not the legal father. A man can register either by acknowledging paternity or by noting the possibility of it. Registering guarantees that he receives notice of any adoption or termination proceeding involving the child, but registration by itself does not let him block the adoption. He would still have to bring further legal action to assert parental rights.9FindLaw. Georgia Code Title 19 Domestic Relations 19-11-9
Before the case can move forward, the agency or the petitioner’s attorney has to search the registry to identify any unregistered biological father. That search happens at or after the earliest of three events: the mother’s surrender of rights, the court order terminating the mother’s rights, or the filing of the adoption petition.10Division of Family and Children Services. Putative Father Registry and Birth Certificates
Post-Placement Supervision
After the child is placed in your home but before the court finalizes the adoption, Georgia requires a supervised adjustment period. A caseworker makes monthly face-to-face visits with the child, all of them in your home so the worker can see the whole family in context. The full household must be present for at least three visits during each six-month period.11Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. Post-Placement Supervision
Contact starts immediately. The agency has to reach the family and child the day after the placement is signed, at minimum by phone. If that first contact is by phone, a face-to-face visit follows within the first week. The supervision period usually runs about six months, though the agency and family set a tentative timeline together. If it needs to extend beyond six months, the agency documents the barriers and a plan. No child can be released for finalization after fewer than four months in the home without written approval from the state adoption unit.11Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. Post-Placement Supervision
The Final Hearing and Decree
Once the paperwork is complete and the post-placement period is done, the court schedules a hearing. The judge reviews the petition, the home study, and the investigation report prepared under Georgia Code 19-8-16, along with any recommendations from the investigating agent. You appear and answer questions under oath about your relationship with the child, your ability to care for them, and the circumstances of the placement.12Georgia eLaws. Georgia Code 19-8-18 – Hearing and Decree of Adoption
If the investigating agent recommends against the adoption, the agent can ask the court to dismiss the petition. If the judge denies that motion, the court appoints a guardian ad litem to represent the child, and the guardian ad litem may appeal. Even without a negative report, the judge can appoint a guardian ad litem any time it looks like the child’s interests may conflict with the petitioner’s.13Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-17 – Report and Findings
The judge issues a final decree when satisfied that all parental rights have been properly surrendered or terminated, that you can care for the child, that the child is suitable for adoption in a private home, and that the adoption is in the child’s best interest. The decree ends the child’s legal ties to the biological parents, gives you full parental rights, and gives the child the name requested in the petition. If the petition does not comply with Georgia law, the court can dismiss the case or continue it so you can fix the problem.12Georgia eLaws. Georgia Code 19-8-18 – Hearing and Decree of Adoption
New Birth Certificate and Social Security Update
Once the decree is entered, the state registrar issues a new birth certificate that lists the adoptive parents as the legal parents. If the child’s name changed in the adoption, the new name appears on the certificate. The original date of birth carries over. In full adoptions where neither adoptive parent is a biological parent, you can choose whether the certificate shows the actual birthplace or your residence at the time of the child’s birth, as long as the location is inside Georgia. The original birth certificate is sealed; all copies held by any vital records custodian in the state are forwarded to the state registrar, and the sealed record can only be opened by court order or as otherwise provided by statute.14Justia. Georgia Code 31-10-14 – Issuance of New Certificate of Birth
You will also need to update the child’s Social Security record with the new name and parental information. The Social Security Administration requires original documents or agency-certified copies. The final adoption decree can serve as proof for correcting the child’s name, date of birth, or parents’ names. You also need a document showing custody or responsibility, such as court custody paperwork or a placement letter from a social service agency, plus your own valid photo ID.15Social Security Administration. Learn What Documents You Will Need to Get a Social Security Card
Financial Assistance and Tax Benefits
Adoption costs add up between attorney fees, home study fees, court costs, and travel. State and federal programs can offset some of it.
Georgia Adoption Assistance
Children who meet Georgia’s “special needs” definition may qualify for ongoing monthly adoption assistance. A child fits the definition if they have been in the care of someone other than a biological or legal parent for more than six consecutive months, have a physical, mental, or emotional disability validated by a licensed physician or psychologist, or are part of a sibling group of two or more placed together. The monthly payment cannot exceed what the child would receive in a family foster home placement, and it continues until age 18 as long as the adoptive parents remain legally and financially responsible. Youth placed through the Division of Family and Children Services may keep receiving assistance past 18 if they meet certain educational criteria.16Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family & Children Services. Adoption Assistance
The state also pays a one-time non-recurring adoption expense benefit of up to $1,500 per child for legal fees and court costs, approved automatically when monthly adoption assistance is approved. One deadline matters more than any other here: adoption assistance has to be applied for, approved, and the agreement signed before the adoption is finalized. Waiting until after finalization means losing eligibility.16Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family & Children Services. Adoption Assistance
Federal Adoption Tax Credit
The federal adoption tax credit for 2026 is up to $17,670 per eligible child, covering qualified expenses such as attorney fees, court costs, and travel. Families with modified adjusted gross income below $265,080 can claim the full credit; the credit phases out between $265,080 and $305,080, and families above that range are ineligible. Up to $5,120 of the 2026 credit is refundable, so you can receive it even if your federal tax liability is lower than the credit amount. Separately, if your employer offers an adoption assistance program, up to $17,670 in employer-provided reimbursements can be excluded from your taxable income.17Internal Revenue Service. Notable Changes to the Adoption Credit
If the Child May Have Tribal Ties
If the child is or may be a member of a federally recognized tribe, the federal Indian Child Welfare Act adds requirements on top of Georgia’s process. Notice must go by registered or certified mail with return receipt to the child’s parents, any Indian custodian, and the designated ICWA agent for each tribe where the child is or may be enrolled, with a copy to the appropriate Bureau of Indian Affairs regional director. The notice must include the child’s and birth parents’ names, birthdates, birthplaces, tribal enrollment information, copies of the custody proceeding documents, and the hearing date and location.18Indian Affairs. ICWA Notice
ICWA also sets a placement preference order for Indian children: extended family first, then other members of the child’s tribe, then other Indian families. A court can deviate only for good cause.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 1915 – Placement of Indian Children Missing an ICWA notice or placement requirement can invalidate the adoption, so any potential tribal connection needs to be flagged early.