Adult adoption in Pennsylvania is a short court process: you file a petition in the Orphans’ Court of the county where you live, attach written consents, attend a hearing, and the judge enters a decree that makes the adopted person your legal child and heir. There is no home study, no background check, and no waiting period. The whole thing is governed by Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, and most cases turn on paperwork rather than any dispute about whether the adoption should happen.
Who Qualifies
The eligibility rules are about as open as they get. Any individual may be adopted regardless of age or residence,1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Section 2311 – Who May Be Adopted and any individual may become an adopting parent.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Section 2312 – Who May Adopt No minimum age difference between the parties. No residency hurdle. No requirement that you be related, or unrelated.
One rule to watch. If the adopting parent is married, the spouse must join in the petition. The court can waive that in limited situations — when the spouse cannot be located after a thorough search, is incapacitated, or has a connection to the marriage that makes their participation unnecessary.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Domestic Relations Chapter 27 Outside those exceptions, a married person cannot adopt alone.
Whose Consent You Need
For an adult adoption, the required-consent list is short. The adoptee must consent, and the adopting parent’s spouse must either join the petition or sign a separate consent.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Section 2711 – Consents Necessary to Adoption That is essentially it.
This catches people off guard: the adoptee’s biological parents do not have to consent and do not have to be notified. Parental consent is required only when the person being adopted is under 18.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Section 2711 – Consents Necessary to Adoption If you are formalizing a stepparent bond or a chosen-family relationship and the biological parents are estranged or hostile, their position has no legal weight here.
Consents are written, signed, and typically notarized so the court can confirm identity and voluntariness. Get them done before you file. A petition that arrives without the consent exhibits attached will sit.
What Goes in the Petition
The adoption petition is filed under 23 Pa. C.S. § 2701 and asks for more than names and a request. It should include:
- Adopting parent information: full name, current address, marital status, age, occupation, religious affiliation, racial background, and any existing relationship to the adoptee.
- Adoptee information: full legal name as it appears on the birth certificate, and how long the adoptee has lived with the adopting parent, if applicable.
- A statement confirming that all required consents are attached, or an explanation of why a particular consent is not needed.
- Any requested name change for the adoptee, stated in the petition itself.
- A clear statement that both parties intend to establish a legal parent-child relationship.
Because the adoptee is over 18 and no intermediary agency is involved, the petition also carries the vital statistics and background information that would otherwise appear in an intermediary’s report.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Domestic Relations Chapter 27 The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania publishes standard Orphans’ Court forms,5Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Orphans’ Court Forms and some counties add their own packet through the local Clerk of the Orphans’ Court.
Match every name on every form to government-issued identification exactly. A typo or a middle-name mismatch between the petition and a driver’s license is the kind of small thing that delays a case for weeks.
File the petition, consent forms, and supporting documents with the Clerk of the Orphans’ Court in the county where the parties live. Filing fees are set at the county level and vary.
The Hearing and the Decree
Once the clerk accepts the filing, the court sets a hearing date and sends notice to everyone whose consent is required.6Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Section 2721 – Notice of Hearing Both the adopting parent and the adoptee must appear and may be required to testify under oath, unless the court finds their presence unnecessary. The court also requires disclosure of any money or other consideration paid in connection with the adoption.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Domestic Relations Chapter 27
Most adult adoption hearings are short. The judge confirms both parties understand the legal consequences, checks that the paperwork is in order, and, if satisfied that the petition’s statements are true and that the adoption promotes the welfare of the adoptee, enters the decree.
What the Decree Changes
The decree directs that the adoptee now holds all the rights of a child and heir of the adopting parent and is subject to the duties of a child to that parent.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Domestic Relations Chapter 27 If you asked for a name change in the petition, the decree covers that as well.
Inheritance is where this process usually earns its keep. Once the decree is entered, the adopted person becomes the adopting parent’s legal issue for all purposes of inheritance and succession, as fully as though they were a biological child.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Domestic Relations Chapter 27 The adoptee inherits under intestacy if the adopting parent dies without a will, and they are treated as a child for estate tax and trust purposes. For people who want to make sure a stepchild, partner, or long-term caretaker inherits without the risk of a contested will, this is often the entire point.
The statute is less explicit about the other side of the ledger. Pennsylvania courts have generally treated adoption as severing the legal parent-child relationship with the biological family for inheritance purposes, consistent with the “as fully as though” language. If keeping inheritance rights from biological parents matters, talk to an estate planning attorney before filing. You may need a will or trust that addresses both family lines directly.
Updating the Birth Certificate
After the decree is entered, the court reports the adoption to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Vital Records office. Courts are required to submit adoption reports by the 15th of the month following the decree. For an adoptee born in Pennsylvania, the department seals the original birth record and creates a replacement reflecting the adopting parent’s information.8Pennsylvania Department of Health. Adoptions
Allow up to 16 weeks after the adoption before expecting to hear from Vital Records. The department will notify you when the record has been updated and you can order a new birth certificate.8Pennsylvania Department of Health. Adoptions Applications sent before that notice arrives come back rejected.
If the adoptee was born in another state, the Pennsylvania court sends notice of the adoption to that state’s vital records office, and the birth state will have its own forms, fees, and timing. Adoptees born outside the United States generally cannot get an amended U.S. birth certificate, though the Pennsylvania decree itself serves as legal proof of the parent-child relationship.
What Adult Adoption Won’t Do
Three things people often expect from adult adoption that it does not deliver.
Immigration. For U.S. immigration purposes, an adoption must be finalized before the beneficiary turns 16 for USCIS to recognize the parent-child relationship. A narrow exception extends that to 18 if the beneficiary is the biological sibling of another child already adopted by the same parent before that sibling turned 16.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual Volume 5, Part E, Chapter 2 – Eligibility An adult adoption completed after those cutoffs does not create immigration eligibility, however genuine the relationship. If immigration is the goal, talk to an immigration attorney first.
Federal taxes. Adopting an adult does not automatically produce a dependent on your return. The IRS “qualifying child” test requires the person to be under 19, under 24 if a full-time student, or permanently disabled with the disability beginning before age 22. The “qualifying relative” test has no age limit but caps the person’s gross income at $5,050 (for 2025, adjusted annually) and requires that you provide more than half of their support.10Internal Revenue Service. Dependents A working-age adoptee with a normal job will not clear either test.
Social Security survivor benefits. An adopted child can draw survivor benefits only if the child is under 18, between 18 and 19 and still in secondary school, or 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22.11Social Security Administration. Benefits for Children A healthy adult adopted at 30 or 40 will not qualify on the adopting parent’s record.
The inheritance and estate-planning value is real. If you are counting on an immediate tax break or federal benefit, adjust expectations before you file.