Snapshot: full project state

adoption.md

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+For educational purposes only — not legal advice.
+
+# Washington State Adoption Law — A Practical Guide to Chapter 26.33 RCW
+
+Adoption in Washington is governed mainly by chapter 26.33 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW 26.33). Its purpose is to provide stable homes for children, and the guiding principle in every case is **the best interest of the child** (RCW 26.33.010). Adoption cases are heard in **superior court** (RCW 26.33.020(7)), and a petition may be filed in the county where the petitioner lives or where the child lives (RCW 26.33.030).
+
+## Who Can Adopt and Who Can Be Adopted
+
+Washington's eligibility rules are broad:
+
+- **Any person may be adopted, regardless of age or residence** — including adults (RCW 26.33.140(1)).
+- **Any person who is legally competent and at least 18 years old may be an adoptive parent** (RCW 26.33.140(2)). The statute sets no minimum income, home ownership, or marital requirements. Married petitioners must both join the petition (RCW 26.33.150(4)); single parents may adopt. The decree must state whether the petitioners are spouses, a stepparent, or a single parent (RCW 26.33.250(1)(c)).
+- An adoption **may not be delayed or denied because of the race, color, or national origin** of the adoptive parent or the child, though an agency may consider a child's cultural background when deciding whether a particular placement is in the child's best interest (RCW 26.33.045).
+
+## The Home Study (Preplacement Report)
+
+Washington's "home study" is called a **preplacement report**. In most cases, **a child cannot be placed with prospective adoptive parents until a preplacement report has been filed with the court** (RCW 26.33.180). It is prepared by a licensed adoption agency, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), a court-approved individual, or a qualified court employee (RCW 26.33.190(1)). The report must investigate the **home environment, family life, health, facilities, and resources** of the prospective parent and recommend whether the person is fit to adopt (RCW 26.33.190(2)). It must confirm that key topics were discussed with the family: adoption as a lifelong commitment, a child's possible feelings of loss and identity confusion, sibling relationships, telling the child about the adoption, and the child's racial, ethnic, and cultural heritage (RCW 26.33.190(2)(a)–(f)). It must also include a **background check** — state and national criminal records, including fingerprint-based checks of national databases — plus a review of **child abuse and neglect registries** for every state where the applicants or any other adult in the home lived in the prior five years (RCW 26.33.190(3)). Agencies may charge a reasonable fee, which can be reduced or waived for hardship (RCW 26.33.190(4)). After placement, the court orders a **post-placement report** on the child's health, the home, and whether the placement serves the child's best interest, due within 60 days (RCW 26.33.200).
+
+**Exceptions:** no reports are required when adopting a spouse's child (step-parent adoption) or when the adoptee is 18 or older — unless the court orders otherwise (RCW 26.33.220).
+
+## The Adoption Process Step by Step
+
+1. **Petition.** The prospective adoptive parent files a petition in superior court stating the parties' names and addresses, the child's name, gender, and birth information if known, whether the Indian Child Welfare Act applies, and who has custody. Any signed consents are filed with it (RCW 26.33.150).
+2. **Preplacement report** (home study) is filed before the child is placed (RCW 26.33.180, RCW 26.33.190).
+3. **Placement, then post-placement report** — ordered when the petition is filed and due within 60 days (RCW 26.33.200).
+4. **Hearing.** After the reports are filed, the court schedules a hearing. Hearings are **closed to the public and held without a jury**; contested hearings are recorded, and attendees may not disclose identifying information (RCW 26.33.060). If the consents are valid (or properly dispensed with) and the adoption is in the child's best interest, the court **enters a decree of adoption** (RCW 26.33.240).
+5. **Decree and birth certificate.** The decree must state the child's original and new names, the adoption type (spouses, stepparent, or single parent), and the information for a new birth certificate (RCW 26.33.250). After the appeal period, the clerk sends a certified copy to the state registrar, who issues a new birth certificate — or forwards it to another state or country's records office if the child was born elsewhere (RCW 26.33.280, RCW 26.33.290).
+
+Appeals of a decree are decided on an **accelerated (fast) basis**, and later challenges are limited to very narrow grounds — the law intends decrees to be final so families can rely on them (RCW 26.33.260(2)–(4)).
+
+## Consent and Relinquishment
+
+**Consent to adoption is required from:** the child, if 14 or older; the child's parents (including an alleged genetic parent) if the child is under 18; the agency or department holding custody, if the child was relinquished to them; and the child's legal guardian (RCW 26.33.160(1)).
+
+A consent must be **signed under penalty of perjury** and must state that it has no legal effect until a court approves it, that it is revocable before court approval, and that the signer understands their parental rights will be permanently terminated (RCW 26.33.160(4)). A parent or alleged genetic parent must sign in front of an adult witness of their own choosing, identified by name, address, and relationship in the document (RCW 26.33.160(6)). A consent may be valid even if it does not name the adoptive parent (RCW 26.33.160(5)).
+
+**Relinquishment** is the voluntary surrender of custody (RCW 26.33.020(14)). A parent, the department, or an agency may file a petition to relinquish a child to the department, an agency, or specific prospective adoptive parents, with the parent's written consent attached (RCW 26.33.080). The hearing cannot occur sooner than **48 hours after birth or the signing of the consents, whichever is later**. The court must find the consent validly executed and relinquishment in the child's best interest; if approved, the recipient is appointed legal guardian and the court enters an order terminating the parent-child relationship (RCW 26.33.090).
+
+**The court must appoint a guardian ad litem for any parent under 18**, who investigates whether the consent was signed voluntarily and with understanding (RCW 26.33.070).
+
+## Birth Parent Rights and Revoking Consent
+
+Birth parents have strong procedural protections:
+
+- A consent **cannot even be presented to the court until 48 hours after it is signed or 48 hours after the child's birth, whichever is later** (RCW 26.33.160(4)(d)).
+- A consent is **revocable at any time before the court approves it** — a written revocation delivered or mailed to the court clerk is enough (RCW 26.33.160(2)(a)).
+- After approval, revocation is very limited: within **one year**, only for **fraud or duress** by the person or agency requesting the consent, or for the signer's **lack of mental competency** (RCW 26.33.160(3)). A narrow 48-hour rule also applies: if the parent gave notice of revocation to the agency or person who sought the consent within 48 hours of birth, a written revocation delivered to the clerk within 48 hours after that notice is valid even after approval (RCW 26.33.160(2)(b)).
+
+If a parent has **not** consented, their rights can be ended only through a **termination of parental rights** petition. The parent must get notice of the hearing at least **20 days** in advance in state, or **30 days** out of state; if personal service is impossible, notice by mail and newspaper publication is required (RCW 26.33.310(2)–(3)). Notice must tell the parent they have a right to a lawyer, including a court-appointed lawyer if indigent (RCW 26.33.110(3)(b)(i)), and notices should be in the parent's native language or through an interpreter if needed (RCW 26.33.310(5)).
+
+Termination requires **clear, cogent, and convincing evidence** that it is in the child's best interest and that the parent has failed to perform parental duties in a way showing substantial lack of regard for parental obligations while withholding consent (RCW 26.33.120(1)). Termination ends all legal rights and duties between parent and child except past-due child support, and the terminated parent gets no notice of the later adoption (RCW 26.33.130). A natural parent who **unsuccessfully** tries to set aside an adoption must pay the adoptive parents' costs and attorney fees, and a parent who consented cannot bring such an action more than **one year** after the court approved the consent (RCW 26.33.360).
+
+## Step-Parent Adoption
+
+Adopting your spouse's child is the most common adoption in Washington, and the law makes it easier:
+
+- The stepparent files the petition and the child's parent **joins in it** (RCW 26.33.150(4)).
+- **No home study is required** — preplacement and post-placement reports are waived unless the court orders otherwise (RCW 26.33.220).
+- The child's other parent must **consent** (RCW 26.33.160(1)(b)) or have their rights **terminated**. The stepparent may file the termination petition themselves when seeking to adopt their spouse's child (RCW 26.33.100(1)(c)). The other parent's consent can be dispensed with only on clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that the adoption is in the child's best interest — for example, a conviction for rape or incest against the child's other parent (RCW 26.33.170).
+- When the decree is entered, the parent who is **not** married to the adopting stepparent and did not join the petition loses all rights and obligations toward the child, except past-due child support (RCW 26.33.260(1)); the parent who joined keeps their rights.
+
+If the other parent objects or cannot be found, the case becomes contested and the notice and termination rules described above apply (RCW 26.33.110, RCW 26.33.120, RCW 26.33.310).
+
+## Adopting an Adult
+
+Washington allows adoption of adults: any person may be adopted regardless of age or residence (RCW 26.33.140(1)), and for an adoptee 18 or older **no home study or post-placement report is required** (RCW 26.33.220). The adoptee's own consent is required (RCW 26.33.160(1)(a)); the parents' consent is required only for adoptees under 18 (RCW 26.33.160(1)(b)).
+
+The effect is significant: after the decree, the adopted adult becomes the legal heir of the adoptive parent, with inheritance rights equal to a natural child (RCW 26.33.260(1)), and a lawfully adopted child is **not** an heir of their natural parents for inheritance purposes (RCW 11.04.085). Adult adoption is often used to formalize long-standing family relationships, such as a stepparent and adult stepchild.
+
+## Open vs. Closed Adoption
+
+Washington law supports both open and closed adoptions.
+
+- **Open adoption agreements are allowed and can be enforceable.** Parties may agree on contact between the child, birth parents, and siblings. To be enforceable, the terms must be written into a **court order** approved in writing by the parties, with a court finding the contact is in the child's best interest (RCW 26.33.295(1)–(2)). A violation is **not** a ground to undo the adoption, but the order can be enforced in a civil action with attorney fees to the prevailing party (RCW 26.33.295(3)–(4)).
+
+**In a closed adoption, records stay sealed.** All records of the proceeding are sealed and can be opened only by court order for good cause (RCW 26.33.330). Files are confidential, but **nonidentifying information** (medical history, heritage, education, circumstances of the adoption, etc.) must be disclosed on request to an adoptive parent, adoptee, or birth parent (RCW 26.33.340; RCW 26.33.020(12)).
+
+Search and reunion rules:
+
+- An adopted person **21 or older** (or younger with the adoptive parent's permission), or a birth family member after the adoptee turns 21, may ask the court to appoint a **confidential intermediary** to search for and discreetly contact the other party (RCW 26.33.343).
+- An adopted person **18 or older** may request a **noncertified copy of their original birth certificate**: for adoptions finalized after October 1, 1993, unless the birth parent filed a valid affidavit of nondisclosure or a contact preference form refusing release; earlier adoptions became available after June 30, 2014. An affidavit of nondisclosure **expires when the birth parent dies** (RCW 26.33.345).
+- An adopted adult may file a certified statement with the Department of Health consenting to or refusing release of identifying information and whether they wish to be contacted (RCW 26.33.347).
+
+## Special Situations
+
+**Indian children.** Every petition must state whether the child is or may be an Indian child; if so, Washington's Indian Child Welfare Act (chapter 13.38 RCW) and the federal ICWA apply, including notice to the child's tribe (RCW 26.33.040). A parent's consent is valid only if signed more than **10 days after birth** and recorded before a court, and it may be withdrawn for any reason **until the final decree** (RCW 26.33.160(4)(h)); relinquishment and termination hearings also cannot occur sooner than 10 days after birth (RCW 26.33.090, RCW 26.33.110). An adoption does not affect rights or benefits an Indian child derives from tribal descent (RCW 26.33.270).
+
+**Children from foster care.** For a "hard to place" child, the court considers DCYF's adoption support agreement for payments and services to the family (RCW 26.33.320); DCYF adoption support rules are in WAC 388-27.
+
+**Out-of-state documents.** A consent, relinquishment, or termination order valid where signed, and consistent with due process, is valid in Washington (RCW 26.33.050).
+
+**Placement reports.** Before placement, the placing party must provide a complete medical report and a family and social history report, with birth parents' identities kept confidential (RCW 26.33.350, RCW 26.33.380).
+
+## What the Decree of Adoption Changes
+
+The decree creates a new legal family: the child becomes, "to all intents and purposes," the legal child and heir of the adoptive parent, with the right to inherit from and through them, and is freed from the rights and obligations of the former parents except past-due child support (RCW 26.33.260(1)). Benefits the child receives from third parties, agencies, the state, or the federal government are not lost (RCW 26.33.270), and a new birth certificate is issued showing the adoptive parents (RCW 26.33.250, RCW 26.33.280, RCW 26.33.290).
+
+## Getting Help
+
+Adoption has permanent consequences, and the state courts website does not post adoption forms — it directs families to DCYF and to attorneys. County superior courts (such as King County) publish self-help adoption packets, and WashingtonLawHelp.org offers free plain-language guidance. Because consents, terminations, and decrees are difficult or impossible to undo later, most people have a Washington family law attorney review their case.
+
+*Sources: chapter 26.33 RCW (verified against the official text on app.leg.wa.gov); RCW 11.04.085; WAC 388-27 (adoption support rules); Washington State Courts adoption forms page (courts.wa.gov).*