Indiana Adoption Petition Form: Consent, Hearing, and Decree

To file an Indiana adoption petition for a minor child, you must hire an attorney to file it on your behalf in a court with probate jurisdiction. State law does not allow a self-represented petition for a minor’s adoption, and the case will move through consent, notice, a home study, and a final hearing before the court can enter a decree. Most cases take several months, and missing a statutory step can delay or defeat the adoption.

Who Files and Where

Under IC 31-19-2-2, a petition to adopt a minor must be filed by an attorney of record with the clerk of a court that has probate jurisdiction. That requirement applies to every kind of minor adoption in Indiana, including stepparent and relative adoptions.¹

Venue is flexible. You can file in the county where the petitioner lives, where the child lives, where the licensed child-placing agency or governmental agency with custody sits, or where the attorney maintains an office. Filing in the wrong county does not void the petition; it may lead to a transfer.¹

If you are married, your spouse generally must join the petition. Indiana will not grant an adoption by a married person unless both spouses are part of the case. The exception is a stepparent adoption: if you are adopting your spouse’s biological or adoptive child, only you petition, and your spouse files an acknowledged consent instead of joining.²

What the Petition Must Contain

IC 31-19-2-6 sets out the required contents. Missing items are one of the easiest ways to stall a case. Your petition must state:

The child’s name (if known), sex, race, age or approximate age, and place of birth.
The new name you want the child to carry after adoption, if you are requesting a change.
Whether the child owns any real or personal property, and if so, a description and value.
Your name, age, place of residence, and if married, the place and date of your marriage.
The name and residence (if known) of the child’s parents, the guardian or nearest kin if the child is an orphan, the court or agency if the child is a ward, or the agency sponsoring the adoption.
How long, if at all, the child has already lived with you.
Whether you have been convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor related to the health and safety of children, with the date and description of any conviction.
Whether a current child support or medical support order is in effect for the child. If one exists, attach a copy and state whether it is being enforced through the Title IV-D program.

Your attorney typically files supporting documents with the petition, including a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate and any court orders terminating parental rights.³

Consent From Biological Parents

Indiana generally requires written consent from every living parent with legal rights to the child. For a child born during a marriage, both the mother and the presumed father must consent. For a child born outside marriage, the mother must consent, along with any father whose paternity has been established by a court proceeding or a paternity affidavit. A putative father who has not established paternity may be deemed to have given implied consent in circumstances set out in the statute.⁴

Consent is not required if a parent’s rights have already been terminated by court order before the decree is entered. It is also not required in several other situations covered by IC 31-19-9-8 through 31-19-9-18, which address abandonment, unfitness, and failure to support.

Withdrawing Consent

A birth parent who signed a consent can withdraw it within 15 days, but only if the court finds withdrawal is in the child’s best interest. That 15-day window closes early if the parent appears before the court (in person, by phone, or by video) and acknowledges that they understood the consequences, signed voluntarily, and believe adoption is in the child’s best interest. After either event, the consent is irrevocable.⁵

Once the decree is entered, no one can withdraw consent. A person served with formal notice of the adoption has 15 days from the date of service to contest it or establish paternity. After that, the adoption cannot be challenged on those grounds.⁶

Notice to Interested Parties

Before the court schedules a final hearing, certain people and agencies must be notified. Under IC 31-19-2.5-3, notice goes to:

Any person whose consent is required under the consent statute.
A putative father entitled to notice under IC 31-19-4.
A grandparent of the child in certain situations.
A licensed child-placing agency that is the child’s legal guardian.
The local Department of Child Services office if the child has an open child-in-need-of-services case.
The entity or facility serving as the child’s guardian if the child has an open juvenile delinquency case.

Proof of notice must be filed before the final hearing can be set. If someone entitled to notice did not receive it, that person can challenge the decree within 45 days after entry, and the court must set it aside.⁷

Notice is not required for a person who has already filed consent with the court, whose consent is not required by statute, whose parental rights were already terminated, or who has waived notice.⁸

How Notice Is Delivered

Notice can be delivered by certified mail with return receipt requested, by personal delivery, by leaving a copy at the person’s home or workplace and mailing another copy by first-class mail, or by any other method that reasonably confirms receipt. For a person who is incarcerated, notice goes to the official in charge of the facility, who must immediately deliver it and give the person an opportunity to retain an attorney.⁹

When you don’t know where a person entitled to notice lives, the court allows notice by publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. If you know the county where the person lives, publish there. If you do not, the statute directs publication in the county where the child was conceived (for very young infants) or in other specified counties depending on the child’s age.⁹

Home Study and Background Checks

After the petition is filed, the court refers it to a licensed child-placing agency (or to the local DCS office if the child has an open child-in-need-of-services case). The agency has 60 days to investigate and file a written report with its recommendation on whether the adoption is advisable.¹⁰

The investigation typically covers home visits, interviews, a review of finances and lifestyle, and reference checks. DCS requires the home study to include a child behavior challenges checklist, at least four reference forms, a financial profile, medical reports for each prospective parent, and background checks on all household members.¹¹

Every petitioner must submit to a criminal history check. If you already have one from the past year that meets statutory standards, you can provide those results instead of undergoing a new check.¹²

The court can waive the home study report if you are a stepparent or grandparent adopting the child and the court also waives the supervision period. Even then, the agency must still run the criminal history check and report the results to the court.¹⁰

The Final Hearing

Once proof of notice is filed and the home study report is in, the court schedules a hearing. Before granting the petition, the judge must find that:

The adoption is in the child’s best interest.
You have sufficient ability to raise the child and provide suitable support and education.
The home study report has been filed.
The Indiana Department of Health has filed an affidavit regarding the putative father registry.
Proper notice has been given to anyone entitled to it.
An affidavit regarding any paternity determination has been filed.
Proper consent has been given or is not required.
Your criminal history does not disqualify you.
Required medical and background documents have been provided to the prospective adoptive parents.

If all nine findings are made, the court enters the adoption decree.¹³

Criminal History Bars

A conviction for what Indiana classifies as a “nonwaivable offense” is an absolute bar to adoption. For other felonies, the court has discretion. Certain felony convictions, including battery, arson, criminal confinement, certain drug offenses, and weapon charges, do not automatically block adoption if the conviction occurred more than five years before the petition. A misdemeanor related to the health and safety of a child, or a juvenile adjudication that would have been a felony if committed by an adult, also gives the court discretion to deny the petition.¹³

What the Decree Does

Once the decree is entered, the biological parents are relieved of all legal duties and obligations to the child and lose all parental rights. The parent-child relationship with the biological parents is fully terminated. Past-due child support owed before the decree is not wiped out; the biological parent still owes that debt.¹⁴

Indiana provides for a new birth certificate under IC 31-19-13. It lists the adoptive parents as the child’s parents and reflects any name change requested in the petition.

After the Decree

Post-Adoption Contact

The court can grant post-adoption contact privileges to a birth parent who consented to the adoption or voluntarily terminated the parent-child relationship. It is not mandatory. The court decides at the time it enters the decree whether such contact is appropriate.¹⁵

Adoption Assistance for Children With Special Needs

Indiana offers financial help to families adopting children with special needs through the Adoption Assistance Program, which includes the federal Title IV-E program and a state-funded subsidy. The subsidy is designed to cover unmet needs the family could not otherwise afford. No means test applies to the adoptive parents for Title IV-E eligibility, and the child does not need to be a ward of the court to qualify.¹⁶

Subsidy amounts are based on the child’s foster care maintenance payment rate, which is set by the child’s age and needs assessment score. A child with greater documented needs generally receives a higher subsidy. Families can request a modification once every 12 months after the adoption if the child’s needs have increased significantly or the family’s financial situation has changed. The Social Security Administration reduces Supplemental Security Income payments dollar-for-dollar by the amount of any adoption subsidy received.¹⁶

Federal Adoption Tax Credit

Families who adopt may claim a federal tax credit for qualified adoption expenses, including attorney fees, court costs, and travel. For 2025, the maximum credit is $17,280 per child, and it phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income between $259,191 and $299,189. Beginning in 2025, up to $5,000 of the credit is refundable, meaning you can receive that portion even if you owe no federal income tax. Any remaining nonrefundable amount can be carried forward for up to five years. The IRS adjusts these figures annually for inflation, so check the current year’s limits when you file.¹⁷

If your employer offers an adoption assistance program, reimbursements through that program may also be excluded from your gross income. The tax credit and the employer exclusion can be used together, but not for the same expenses.

Interstate Placements

If your adoption involves bringing a child into Indiana from another state, or placing an Indiana child in another state, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children applies. Indiana adopted the compact under IC 31-28-4. The sending agency must give written notice to the receiving state’s authorities before the child can be moved, and the placement cannot happen until the receiving state confirms in writing that it does not appear contrary to the child’s interests.¹⁸

The ICPC does not apply when a parent, stepparent, grandparent, adult sibling, adult aunt or uncle, or guardian sends the child to the same type of close relative or guardian in another state.

Contested Adoptions

When a biological parent disputes the adoption, the case becomes significantly more complex. A person served with notice has 15 days to contest the adoption or attempt to establish paternity. Once that window closes, the person cannot challenge the decree.⁶

Most contested adoptions involve a putative father who was unaware of the adoption or did not register with the putative father registry. The court cannot grant the adoption until the Indiana Department of Health files an affidavit confirming whether any man registered as a putative father. If someone did register, was entitled to notice, but did not receive it, the decree can be set aside within 45 days.⁷

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-2-2 – Adoption of Minor Child; Petition; Venue; Substituting Petitioner
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-2-4 – Consent to Adoption by Petitioner’s Spouse
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-2-6 – Contents of Petition; Additional Documents
4
Justia. Indiana Code 31-19-9 – Consent to Adoption
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-10-3 – Withdrawal of Consent to Adoption
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-14-3 – Time for Withdrawal of Consent to Adoption
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-2.5-3 – Required Notice
8
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-2.5-4 – Notice Not Required
9
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-2.5-6 – Provision of Notice of Petition for Adoption
10
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-8-5 – Agency Report and Recommendation
11
Indiana Department of Child Services. Family Preparation/Home Study
12
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-2-7.5 – Submission of Information, Forms, or Consents for Criminal History Check
13
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-11-1 – Adoption Decree Requirements
14
Justia. Indiana Code 31-19-15-1 – Effect of Adoption on Parents
15
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-19-16-1 – Postadoption Contact Privileges Granted to Birth Parent
16
Indiana Department of Child Services. Adoption Assistance FAQ
17
Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Credit
18
Justia. Indiana Code 31-28-4 – Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children