Relative (Kinship) Adoptions

In a relative adoption, also called a kinship adoption, a member of the child's family steps forward to adopt. Grandparents often adopt their grandchildren if the parents die while the children are minors, or if the parents are unable to take care of the children for other reasons (such as being in jail or on drugs). In most states, these adoptions are easier than non-relative adoptions. If the adopted child has siblings who are not adopted at the same time, kinship adoption procedures usually provide for contact between the siblings after the adoption.

Adult Adoptions

In most states, it's legal for one adult to adopt another as long as there's at least a ten-year age difference and the parties can show why the adoption is in the interests of both the parties involved and the public good. Often, adult adoptions are stepparent adoptions that the family didn't get around to when the younger person was a minor, but wants to complete in order to assure inheritance rights.

Sometimes, older adults who don't have children of their own meet younger persons who they wish to treat as their children for inheritance purposes. There are protections in place in many states requiring oversight of adult adoptions where caregivers of the elderly are involved, in order to prevent elder financial abuse.

To learn more about adoptions and other laws that affect your daily life, get Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday Law: Answers to Your Most Frequently Asked Legal Questions, edited by Shae Irving (Nolo).