Virginia adult adoption is handled through a petition filed in the circuit court where you live, under Virginia Code § 63.2-1243. If you and the person you want to adopt both consent and your situation fits one of four eligibility categories, the court can create a full legal parent-child relationship between two adults. No home study. No background check. No notice to the adoptee’s biological parents. The process is significantly simpler than adopting a minor, but the legal consequences are just as permanent.
Who Can Adopt Whom
The petitioner must be a Virginia resident, and the adoptee must be at least 18. Beyond that, the law recognizes four situations where adult adoption is allowed:1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 63.2-1243 – Adoption of Certain Persons Eighteen Years of Age or Over
- A stepchild aged 18 or older, if you have acted as their parent for at least three months.
- A close relative aged 18 or older. Virginia defines this broadly to include grandparents, great-grandparents, adult siblings, adult nieces and nephews, adult aunts and uncles, adult great-aunts and great-uncles, stepparents, adult stepsiblings, and other adult relatives by marriage or adoption.2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Article 4.1 – Close Relative Adoption
- Your own birth child who is now 18 or older, or any adult who lived in your home for at least three months before turning 18.
- Any other adult, if you can show “good cause,” the adoptee is at least 15 years younger than you, and you have known each other for at least one year before filing.
The 15-year age gap gets a lot of attention, but it applies only to that fourth catch-all category. For a stepchild, close relative, birth child, or former household member, there is no minimum age difference.
Whose Consent You Need
Adult adoption in Virginia requires the written consent of the person being adopted. Because the adoptee is a legal adult, no consent or notification is required from either biological parent.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 63.2-1243 – Adoption of Certain Persons Eighteen Years of Age or Over This is the sharpest departure from minor adoption, where parental rights must be terminated or relinquished.
If the adoptee is married, their spouse must also consent in writing. If you are married, your spouse must either join the petition or provide written consent. All consents must be signed and acknowledged before a notary public or a clerk of the court.
What You File, and Where
File in the circuit court of the county or city where you reside. The base filing fee for adoption proceedings is $20.3Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 17.1, Chapter 2, Article 7 – Fees Clerks charge additional processing costs that vary by court, so call ahead for a full total. Minor adoption petitions carry an additional $50 Virginia Birth Father Registry fee, but that charge is tied to the minor adoption statute and may not apply to adult adoptions filed under § 63.2-1243.4Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 63.2-1201 – Filing of Petition for Adoption
You will need the full legal names, current addresses, and dates of birth for both parties. The petition itself must explain why you are seeking the adoption and describe the existing relationship. Petition forms come from the clerk’s office of the circuit court where you plan to file. Along with the signed, notarized petition, prepare:
- A proposed final order for the judge to sign.
- A VS-21 form, the statistical Report of Adoption required for all Virginia adoptions.
- Supporting exhibits — documents showing your relationship or the length of time you have known each other.
- A VS-6 form, only if the adoptee wants a new birth certificate. This is submitted with a $12 fee payable to Vital Records and a copy of the adoptee’s photo ID.
If the adoptee wants a legal name change, put that request in the petition. Virginia treats a name change incorporated into the adoption order as satisfying the general name-change statute, so no separate proceeding is needed.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 63.2-1243 – Adoption of Certain Persons Eighteen Years of Age or Over
Adult adoption does not require a home study or a criminal background check. The court has discretion to order an investigation if it sees a reason, but in straightforward cases this almost never happens.5Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 63.2-1244 – Investigation and Report at Discretion of Circuit Court
What the Hearing Looks Like
After you file, a judge reviews the petition and consent forms. In many adult adoption cases the judge waives a formal hearing when the paperwork is complete and the relationship is clear. If a hearing is scheduled, it is usually brief: the parties appear, confirm their identities, and affirm their consent under oath. The judge signs the final order, and the clerk records it to close the case.
What the Adoption Actually Does
Once the final order is entered, the adoptee becomes your legal child in every respect, as though born to you. That means full inheritance rights, the ability to be listed as a dependent or beneficiary where applicable, and the legal standing family members are permitted for medical and end-of-life decisions.6Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 63.2-1215 – Legal Effects of Adoption
Under Virginia’s intestacy laws, the adopted adult is treated identically to a biological child. Wills and trusts referencing “children” or “descendants” of the adoptive parent will generally include the adopted person unless the document specifically excludes adopted individuals.
Ties to Biological Parents Are Cut
This is the part people most often overlook. Entry of the final adoption order legally divests the adoptee’s biological parents of all rights and obligations toward the adoptee, and frees the adoptee from all legal obligations to those biological parents.6Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 63.2-1215 – Legal Effects of Adoption
The severance reaches further than the parents themselves. Anyone whose legal relationship to the adoptee runs through those biological parents — grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings — also loses their legal connection. If a biological parent dies without a will, the adopted adult has no automatic right to inherit. The reverse is also true: the biological parents lose any intestate claim to the adoptee’s estate.
There is one exception. When a stepparent adopts their spouse’s child, the adoption does not sever the legal relationship between the child and the birth parent married to the petitioner. Only the other biological parent’s rights are terminated.
New Birth Certificate
After finalization, the adoptee can request a new birth certificate from the Virginia State Registrar of Vital Records. The clerk forwards the VS-21 and supporting documents to the registrar, who then issues a new certificate showing the adoptive parent’s name and any legal name change. The new certificate lists the adoptee’s actual place and date of birth.7Virginia State Legislative Information System. Virginia Code 32.1-261 – New Certificate of Birth Established on Proof of Adoption
The new certificate is not automatic. You have to request it, and the adoptee can decline entirely. The law allows the adopted person (if 18 or older), the adoptive parents, or the court to request that no new certificate be issued. Once a new certificate is created, the original and all adoption evidence are sealed, and only a court order or a specific statutory request by the adult adoptee can unseal them.
If the adoptee was born in another state, Virginia cannot issue a new birth certificate. You would need to send a certified copy of the Virginia adoption decree to the vital records office in the state of birth and follow that state’s amendment procedure.
What Adult Adoption Will Not Do
Two boundaries are worth knowing before you file, because both catch people by surprise.
Social Security survivor benefits are limited. If the adoptive parent has already started receiving Social Security retirement or disability benefits when the adoption occurs, the adopted adult must show they were either living with the adoptive parent or receiving at least half of their support from that parent during the year before the adoption was finalized.8Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.362 – When a Legally Adopted Child Is Dependent Without that dependency showing, no benefits follow.
Adult adoption does not create immigration benefits. Federal immigration law defines “child” for visa and citizenship purposes as someone adopted before their 16th birthday. An adoption after that age does not qualify the adoptee for an immigrant visa petition, adjustment of status, or derivative citizenship based on the parent-child relationship. The Virginia court will grant the adoption and it will be valid for every state-law purpose, but it will not open a path to lawful status or U.S. citizenship.