Adult adoption in Massachusetts is handled through the Probate and Family Court under Chapter 210 of the General Laws. There is no filing fee, no home study, and no involvement from the Department of Children and Families. If the petitioner is older than the adoptee, everyone required by statute has signed a written consent, and the judge is satisfied the adoption serves a legitimate purpose, the decree can issue quickly, often at a single short hearing.
Who Can Adopt an Adult
Any person of full age can petition to adopt someone younger than themselves. Both the petitioner and the adoptee must be at least 18, and the petitioner has to be older than the adoptee. You cannot adopt your own spouse.1Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210 Section 1 – Nature of Adoption
Siblings, uncles, and aunts are eligible. The prior statutory bar on adopting a sibling, uncle, or aunt was removed effective July 7, 2022.2Mass.gov. Massachusetts Law About Adoption
Petitioners who live in Massachusetts file in the county where they live. If you live outside the state and want to adopt an adult who lives here, the petition goes to the Probate and Family Court in the adoptee’s county.1Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210 Section 1 – Nature of Adoption
Whose Written Consent You Need
The consent list is longer than most people expect. Two willing adults is not enough on its own. Under Section 2 of Chapter 210, a decree cannot issue without written consent from:
- The adoptee.
- The adoptee’s spouse, if the adoptee is married.
- The adoptee’s lawful parents (including any previous adoptive parents) or surviving parent. If the adoptee was born to unmarried parents and was never previously adopted, the statute’s plain language requires only the birth mother’s consent.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210 Section 2 – Written Consent of Certain Persons
On the petitioner’s side, a married petitioner’s spouse must join in the petition, because the adoptee becomes the legal child of both spouses. The court can proceed without the spouse joining only in narrow situations: prolonged unexplained absence, legal separation, incapacity, or unreasonable withholding of consent, and only when the couple is not in the middle of a divorce.1Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210 Section 1 – Nature of Adoption
Each written consent has to be signed before a notary public with two witnesses present, one of whom is chosen by the person giving consent.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210 Section 2 – Written Consent of Certain Persons
The biological-parent consent requirement is the piece that trips people up. If a biological parent cannot be located, or refuses, it’s worth talking to a family law attorney about whether the court can dispense with that consent on your facts.
The Petition and Supporting Documents
The main form is the Petition for Adoption and Affidavit of Petitioner(s), designated CJP 87, available from the Massachusetts Trial Court forms portal.4Massachusetts Trial Court. Petition for Adoption and Affidavit of Petitioners It asks for full legal names, addresses, and dates of birth for the petitioner and adoptee, plus identifying information about the adoptee’s birth parents if known.
Before you file, gather:
- A certified copy of the adoptee’s birth certificate.
- Signed, notarized consents from everyone Section 2 requires.
- Spousal joinder on the petition itself if the petitioner is married.
- Any name change the adoptee wants, written into the petition rather than filed as a separate action.
Filing and the Hearing
File everything with the Probate and Family Court in the petitioner’s county. Massachusetts charges no filing fee for adoption petitions.5Mass.gov. File for Adoption
The clerk dockets the case and schedules a hearing. Both the petitioner and the adoptee should plan to attend. The hearing is usually short. The judge is checking that both parties are consenting freely and that the adoption is not being used for a fraudulent purpose, such as evading creditors or manipulating immigration status. Expect questions about why you want the adoption, how long you have known each other, and whether anyone is being pressured. There is no “best interests” analysis and no evaluation of the petitioner’s parenting fitness, because the adoptee is an adult who can speak for themselves. If the paperwork and answers hold up, the judge approves the petition at the hearing.
What the Decree Changes
Once the judge signs, a full legal parent-child relationship exists between the petitioner and the adoptee. The legal relationship between the adoptee and their biological parents and relatives terminates for most purposes, with exceptions for marriage and certain criminal law provisions.6General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 210 Section 6 – Decree of Court, Force and Effect
Inheritance
Section 6 grants all the rights and duties of a natural parent-child relationship “except as regards succession to property.” Inheritance runs through separate probate statutes. Under those statutes, adopted persons generally inherit from adoptive parents on the same terms as biological children. Because the legal tie to the biological family is cut by the decree, the adoptee typically loses intestacy rights from biological relatives. A biological relative who wants to leave assets to an adopted-away adult needs to name that person explicitly in a will or trust.
Support Obligations to Biological Parents
Adult adoption does not release the adopted adult from any existing legal obligation to support their biological parents. A support duty that existed before the adoption survives the decree.7Justia Law. Massachusetts Code Chapter 210 Section 6 – Decree of Court, Force and Effect This carve-out is specific to adult adoptions and worth knowing about before filing.
What the Decree Won’t Do
People sometimes pursue adult adoption expecting federal tax or immigration consequences that the decree cannot deliver.
Federal Adoption Tax Credit
The federal adoption tax credit applies only to a “qualified child,” defined as someone under 18 or someone physically or mentally unable to care for themselves.8Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Credit A healthy adult adoptee does not qualify.
Immigration Status
The Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which lets adopted foreign-born children acquire U.S. citizenship through an adoptive parent, only reaches individuals who met the statutory requirements before turning 18. USCIS classifies those adopted after age 18 as adult adoptees, and they do not acquire citizenship through the adoption. Other paths such as naturalization or lawful permanent residency remain available, but the decree alone will not shift immigration status.9USCIS. Adult Adoptees and U.S. Citizenship
Social Security Survivor Benefits
Social Security survivor benefits for children of a deceased worker are generally limited to unmarried children under 18, full-time students aged 18 to 19, or adult children with a disability that began before age 22.10Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits A healthy adult adoptee will not qualify on the adoptive parent’s record simply because the adoption occurred.
After the Decree
The court issues a certified Decree of Adoption. If you requested a name change in the petition, the decree includes that order.
The court sends a certification to the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. The Registry amends the adoptee’s birth record to reflect the new parentage and any name change, then seals the original certificate. Once the amendment is processed, you can order certified copies of the amended birth certificate, which will show the adoptive parent as the legal parent and will not indicate that an adoption took place.
With the decree and the amended birth certificate, the adoptee can update the Social Security card, driver’s license, passport, and other identification. Most agencies key off the Social Security record, so that update generally comes first when a name has changed.