Texas Adult Adoption Forms: Petition, Consent, and Hearing

To adopt an adult in Texas, you file three Texas adult adoption forms with the district clerk in the county where you live: an Original Petition for Adoption of an Adult, the Adult Adoptee’s Consent to Adoption signed before a notary, and a proposed Final Order of Adoption for the judge to sign. The case is governed by Chapter 162, Subchapter F of the Texas Family Code, and once the judge signs the final order, the adopted adult becomes your legal child for all purposes, including inheritance.¹

Who Can File

The petitioner has to be an adult who lives in Texas, and the person being adopted also has to be an adult.¹ The statute does not require the petitioner to be older than the adoptee, and it does not restrict adoption based on the nature of the existing relationship.

If you are married, your spouse must join in the petition.² The court can still grant the adoption to only one spouse if both spouses ask for that, but the non-adopting spouse must be named on the petition.³ Leaving a spouse off is one of the fastest ways to get your paperwork rejected.

The Three Forms You Need

Blank forms are available from TexasLawHelp.org and from your county’s District Clerk office.⁴

Original Petition for Adoption of an Adult. This is the formal request. It identifies both parties, describes their relationship, and asks the court to grant the adoption.
Adult Adoptee’s Consent to Adoption. The adoptee has to consent in writing, and the court cannot grant the adoption without it. The signature must be notarized.⁵
Final Order of Adoption. You draft this in advance for the judge to sign at the hearing. It states the legal effects of the adoption.

If you cannot afford the filing fee, add a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. That form asks the court to waive fees.⁶

What to Gather Before You Start Writing

Pull the following for every party who will appear on the petition, including your spouse if you are married: full legal name exactly as it appears on government-issued ID, date of birth, Social Security number, and current residential address.⁷ Names must match the ID exactly. A discrepancy between the name on the petition and the name on your driver’s license can hold the case up.

Filling Out the Petition

The petition identifies the court, the petitioner, and the adoptee. You file in the district court, or in a statutory county court with family law jurisdiction, in the county where the petitioner lives.⁸ You will describe the relationship between the parties so the judge understands the context.

Asking for a Name Change in the Same Case

If the adoptee wants to take the petitioner’s last name, put that request in the petition. You do not need to file a separate name-change case.⁹ If the judge approves, the new name appears in the final adoption decree. If the judge denies that part, the adoptee can still pursue a standard adult name change separately.

Signing and Notarizing the Consent

The Adult Adoptee’s Consent has to be signed in front of a notary public.⁷ Do not sign it at home and take it to a notary later. The notary needs to watch the signature happen. Banks, UPS stores, and county clerk offices commonly offer notary services for a few dollars per signature. Without a properly notarized consent, the court cannot proceed.⁵

Filing with the Court

Take the completed petition, notarized consent, and proposed final order to the district clerk in the petitioner’s county.⁸

E-Filing or In Person

Attorneys must file electronically through eFileTexas.gov for civil and family cases in Texas district and county courts.¹⁰ If you are representing yourself, electronic filing is generally not mandatory, though some courts require it through local rules.¹¹ Self-represented filers can usually walk their paperwork into the District Clerk’s office. Call the clerk before you go. A quick call saves a wasted trip.

Filing Fees

Filing fees vary by county.⁶ Call the district clerk in your county for the current amount. If you cannot afford it, submit the Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs with your petition. If the court grants it, you will not pay fees upfront.⁴

Once the clerk accepts the filing, you get a file-stamped copy and a cause number. That number identifies your case in every future interaction with the court. Keep the stamped copies somewhere safe.

The Hearing

After the case is filed, contact the court coordinator to set a hearing. This proceeding is sometimes called a prove up. Both the petitioner and the adult adoptee must appear in person.⁴ If the petitioner’s spouse joined the petition, the spouse should be ready to attend as well.

The hearing is usually brief. The judge reviews the petition, confirms the adoptee’s consent, and checks the statutory requirements. If everything is in order, the court must grant the adoption.³ The judge signs the Final Order of Adoption, and at that moment, the adoption is legally complete. The statute says the court “shall grant” the adoption if the requirements are met, so there is no separate best-interest analysis like the one used in a child adoption.

After the Judge Signs

Certified Copies of the Decree

Stop by the clerk’s office after the hearing and buy certified copies of the signed decree. In most Texas counties, certified copies cost about $1.00 per page plus a $5.00 certification fee per document.¹² Order at least two or three. You will likely need them for vital records, Social Security, and your own files.

Updating the Birth Certificate

To have the adoptee’s birth certificate updated, file a Certificate of Adoption (Form VS-160) with the Texas Department of State Health Services, Vital Statistics Section.¹³ The form must be an original. Photocopies, strikeouts, and write-overs are not accepted. Attach a copy of a valid photo ID.

Section 5 of the VS-160 must be completed and certified by the clerk of the court that granted the adoption. If Section 5 is not certified, you must instead submit a certified copy of the final decree that identifies the original name, date of birth, and new adoptive name.¹³ If you are ordering a new birth certificate as part of the filing, the applicant must sign Section 7 before a notary public, county clerk, or other person authorized to administer oaths, and include a copy of the signer’s photo ID.

VS-160 fees:

Birth certificate correction based on adoption: $25.00
Central Adoption Registry fee: $15.00 per decree granted in Texas
Certified corrected birth certificate: $22.00 per copy (optional)
Expedited processing: $5.00 (optional)

Pay by check or money order to “DSHS – Vital Statistics.”¹³ Mailed submissions to the Austin P.O. Box address on the form take roughly six to eight weeks. Overnight submissions to the street address process faster if you include the $5.00 expedited fee. Everything you submit, including certified copies, is retained by the Vital Statistics Section and placed in a sealed file. You will need a court order to access those documents later.

What the Adoption Legally Does

Once the judge signs the order, the adopted adult becomes the son or daughter of the adoptive parent for all purposes. The adoptee gains the right to inherit from and through the adoptive parents as if they were a biological child. In the other direction, the adopted adult can no longer inherit from or through their biological parents, and the biological parents can no longer inherit from or through the adoptee.¹⁴ Anyone using adult adoption for estate-planning reasons should weigh that trade-off carefully before filing.

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 162.501 – Adoption of Adult
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 162.503 – Requirements of Petition
3
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 162.506 – Hearing; Grant of Adoption
4
Texas Law Help. I Want to Adopt an Adult in Texas
5
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 162.504 – Consent
6
Texas Law Help. Adult Adoption in Texas
7
Fort Bend County Libraries. Instructions and Forms for an Adult Adoption in Texas
8
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Section 162.502 – Jurisdiction
9
Texas State Law Library. Name Changes in Texas – Adoption
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eFileTexas.Gov. Official E-Filing System for Texas
11
Texas Law Help. I Want to Electronically File (E-File) My Documents
12
Harris County District Clerk. Purchase Copies
13
Texas Department of State Health Services. Certificate of Adoption Form VS-160
14
State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 162.507 – Effect of Adoption