DIY Adoption in Texas: Requirements, Home Study, and Costs

You can handle a DIY adoption in Texas yourself when it’s a stepparent adoption or a qualifying relative adoption and the other biological parent will cooperate. The process means preparing a petition, getting the other parent’s rights terminated, clearing a criminal background check, and showing up at a short hearing where a judge signs the final decree. Expect several months from filing to finalization, and expect the paperwork to punish small mistakes.

When Doing It Yourself Is Realistic

Stepparent adoption is the clearest case. You’re married to the child’s biological parent, the other biological parent agrees to give up their rights (or already lost them), and the child lives in your home. That combination keeps the filings manageable and avoids the contested hearings that push most people toward hiring a lawyer.

Relative adoptions can also work without an attorney when you’ve been serving as the child’s managing conservator, the child has lived with you for at least six months, the child is at least two years old, and the nonterminated parent consents.

Agency adoptions, private infant placements, and any case where a parent can’t be located or refuses to consent are a different matter. Involuntary termination of parental rights requires proof by clear and convincing evidence, the highest burden in civil court, and the other parent has every right to appear and fight. Unless you have litigation experience, that’s not a DIY project. Everything below assumes a cooperative stepparent or relative adoption.

Who Can Adopt

Any adult in Texas may petition to adopt a child. The Texas Family Code requires only that the petitioner be at least 18. The minimum age of 21 that appears in some guides applies to families adopting through the Department of Family and Protective Services foster care system, not to private or stepparent adoptions.¹

Every petitioner must obtain a criminal history report, which the court reviews before granting the adoption.² If you have any criminal history, especially offenses against children or family violence, research the specific disqualifications before paying filing fees. Certain convictions can lead the court to deny the adoption outright.

Terminating the Other Biological Parent’s Rights

Every Texas adoption requires that the parent-child relationship with each living biological parent be either terminated or addressed through the adoption itself. In a stepparent adoption, your spouse joins the petition as a co-petitioner rather than surrendering rights. The other biological parent is the one whose rights have to end.¹

Voluntary Relinquishment

When the other biological parent cooperates, they sign an affidavit of voluntary relinquishment. The affidavit cannot be signed sooner than 48 hours after the child’s birth. It must be witnessed by two people and verified before someone authorized to administer oaths, such as a notary.³

Read the affidavit carefully for the words “revocable” or “irrevocable.” A revocable affidavit can be withdrawn up until the 11th day after signing. It must state this right in bold type and give a name and address for delivering any revocation. Once that window closes, or if the affidavit is irrevocable from the start, the relinquishment is final.³

If the Other Parent Won’t Agree

If the biological parent won’t sign, termination becomes contested. You’d need to prove at least one statutory ground by clear and convincing evidence, and the court must separately find that termination serves the child’s best interest.⁴ This is where DIY adoptions fall apart. If your case requires involuntary termination, talk to a family law attorney even if you handle the rest of the adoption yourself.

Consent From the Child and Any Managing Conservator

A child who is 12 or older must consent to the adoption, either in writing or in open court. The court can waive this requirement if the waiver serves the child’s best interest. If the adoption will change the child’s name and the child is at least 10, the child must also consent in writing to the name change.⁵

If someone other than you currently serves as the child’s managing conservator, their written consent must be filed with the court. A judge can override a refusal only after a hearing and a finding that the conservator is withholding consent without good cause.⁵

Background Check and Home Study

The court must order every person seeking to adopt to obtain a criminal history record through the process set out in Section 411.128 of the Texas Government Code, which involves submitting fingerprints to the Department of Public Safety.²

Texas courts can also order an adoption evaluation, sometimes called a home study, with interviews, a home visit, and a review of financial records. In an uncontested stepparent adoption where the petitioner clears the background check, the court may waive this evaluation. That waiver is a big reason stepparent adoptions are manageable without a lawyer. Relative adoptions can also qualify for a waiver, though the court has discretion. The background check is required either way.²

Preparing and Filing the Petition

The petition for adoption is the core document. It formally asks the court to establish a parent-child relationship between you and the child. At minimum, it must include identifying information for the petitioner, the child, and the biological parents. In a stepparent adoption, your spouse files jointly as a co-petitioner.

Supporting documents you’ll need:

The affidavit of voluntary relinquishment, signed by the biological parent whose rights are ending
A certified copy of the child’s birth certificate
Your marriage license, if this is a stepparent adoption
The criminal background check results for each petitioner

You can combine the termination of parental rights and the adoption in a single suit, filing both petitions together. That’s the standard approach in stepparent cases and saves time.

File in the district court, juvenile court, or other court with jurisdiction over parent-child matters in the county where the child resides.⁶ TexasLawHelp.org offers free fill-in-the-blank forms and instructions for stepparent adoptions, including the petition and relinquishment affidavit. Your local district clerk’s office can confirm which forms your court accepts and explain filing logistics.

Anyone with standing who hasn’t already consented or had their rights terminated must receive notice. In a cooperative stepparent case where the other parent has signed the relinquishment, notice is minimal. If a parent’s location is unknown, you may have to publish citation, which adds time and complexity.

Residency Requirement and the Final Hearing

The court cannot finalize the adoption until the child has lived with you for at least six months. The clock starts when the child begins residing in your home, so in most stepparent cases the requirement is already met by filing. If it isn’t, you can ask the judge to waive it, and the judge may grant the waiver if it’s in the child’s best interest.⁷

The case ends with a hearing where the judge confirms every statutory requirement has been met and that the adoption serves the child’s best interest. In an uncontested stepparent adoption, this hearing is usually short. You and your spouse testify briefly, the judge asks a few questions, and if everything is in order, the judge signs the Final Decree of Adoption on the spot. Bring the child to the hearing unless the court tells you otherwise. If one petitioner truly cannot attend, the court can waive that appearance when the other petitioner is present and the absence would be unduly difficult to avoid.

After the Decree Is Signed

Get several certified copies of the decree from the court clerk right away. Every administrative update that follows requires one.

New Birth Certificate

Request a new birth certificate reflecting the adoptive parents’ names and the child’s new name (if changed) from the Texas Department of State Health Services, Vital Statistics Unit. The application requires a completed Certificate of Adoption form (VS-160), certified by the district clerk’s office, plus a certified copy of the Final Decree of Adoption. The Vital Statistics Unit can only issue adoption-based birth certificates for children born in Texas, even if the adoption took place in the state.⁸

Social Security Card

To update the child’s Social Security card with the new name, bring the Final Decree of Adoption and the child’s current identity documents to a Social Security Administration office. SSA requires originals or certified copies and will not accept photocopies. The child keeps the same Social Security number and receives a new card showing the updated name.⁹

Update school records, medical insurance, and other accounts still showing the child’s prior legal name. Each institution will want to see the certified decree.

What It Costs, and What You Can Recoup

A DIY adoption costs far less than one handled by a lawyer, but it isn’t free. Plan for court filing fees (which vary by county and commonly run several hundred dollars for a child adoption), fingerprinting and background check fees, and certified copy fees for the decree and the new birth certificate. If the court orders an adoption evaluation instead of waiving it, that adds a significant expense, often over $1,000.

The federal adoption tax credit can offset some of the cost. Qualifying expenses include court costs, attorney fees if you consulted one for part of the process, adoption-related fees, and other expenses tied directly to the legal adoption. For the 2025 tax year, the maximum credit is $17,280 per eligible child, with a phase-out beginning at $259,190 in modified adjusted gross income and full elimination at $299,190. Starting in 2025, up to $5,000 of the credit is refundable per qualifying child, so you can receive that portion even if you owe no federal income tax. The IRS adjusts these amounts annually for inflation, so check its guidance for the tax year you file.¹⁰

1
State of Texas. Texas Code FAM – 162.001
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 162.0085 – Criminal History Report Required
3
State of Texas. Texas Code FAM – 161.103
4
State of Texas. Texas Code FAM – 161.001
5
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 162.010 – Consent Required
6
Child Welfare Information Gateway. Court Jurisdiction and Venue for Adoption Petitions
7
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 162.009 – Residence With Petitioner
8
Texas Department of State Health Services. New Birth Certificate Based on Adoption
9
Social Security Administration. Learn What Documents You Will Need to Get a Social Security Card
10
Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Credit