Can an adult adoption act be signed and notarized in different states?

Plain-English summary

An Ouachita Parish resident wanted to adopt his wife's adult child, who lived in Massachusetts. The parish clerk asked in 2005 whether all parties had to execute the adoption act in one parish. The Attorney General said they did not: the signatures could be notarized separately in Louisiana and Massachusetts.

R.S. 9:461 required a notarial act signed by the adoptive parent or parents and the adult adoptee, then registration in the parish or parishes where the parties were domiciled. The AG distinguished a "notarial act" under that statute from an "authentic act" under the Civil Code and said the adoption statute did not impose a single-parish signing requirement.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2005. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy.

Common questions

Did every signer have to appear before the same Louisiana notary?

The AG said no. In the situation presented, the Louisiana adoptive parent's signature and the Massachusetts adult adoptee's signature could be notarized separately.

Did the adoption document still have to be registered?

Yes. The opinion quoted R.S. 9:461's requirement to register the notarial act with the clerk or register in the parish or parishes where the adoptive parents and adoptee were domiciled.

Why did the AG distinguish a notarial act from an authentic act?

It relied on Louisiana court decisions saying R.S. 9:461's notarial-act requirement was different from the Civil Code's witnessed authentic act. That distinction supported the answer that all parties did not need to execute the act together in Ouachita Parish.

Background and statutory framework

The AG applied R.S. 9:461's signing and registration rules to an adult adoption involving parties in Louisiana and Massachusetts. It cited Louisiana cases interpreting "notarial act" and contrasted that term with the Civil Code definition of "authentic act."

Citations

• R.S. 9:461 (adult adoption by notarial act and registration).
• Civil Code Art. 1833 (authentic-act definition discussed in the opinion).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/05-0215

Original opinion text

June 15, 2005
OPINION 05-0215

Honorable W. J. “Bill” Hodge
1-A Adoption
Clerk of Court
R.S. 9:461
While the act of adoption must be registered in the parish in
Parish of Ouachita
which both the adoptive parent and the adult child to be adopted
300 St. John, Room 104
are domiciled, the act need not be executed within the parish.
Monroe, LA 71201
The signature of the adult child may be notarized at the adult
child’s domicile where he resides out-of-state.

Dear Mr. Hodge:

You advise that an individual who is domiciled in Ouachita Parish wishes to adopt his wife’s adult child. The adult child is domiciled in the State of Massachusetts. You ask whether the act of adoption must be executed by all parties in one parish.

R.S. 9:461 governs our response and provides, in pertinent part:

A. Any person eighteen years or older may adopt any person over the age of seventeen years, according to the following conditions, limitations, and procedure:
(1) The adoption shall be effected by the execution of a notarial act signed by:
(a) The adoptive parent or parents and the person to be adopted when the person to be adopted is a major or an emancipated minor.

B. The notarial act executed in accordance with Paragraph A(1) of this Section shall be registered, in the parish or parishes in which both the adoptive parent or parents and the person being adopted are domiciled, with the clerk of court or, in Orleans Parish, with the register of conveyances. The clerk of court or register of conveyances shall record all such notarial acts of adoption, except as otherwise provided in Subsection A hereof, a separate book kept by him for the purpose and shall keep an index of the same under the names of the adoptive parents and the person adopted.

R.S. 9:461 does not require that the act of adoption be executed in one parish. The statute requires only that the act of adoption be registered in the parish or parishes in which both the adoptive parent(s) and the person being adopted are domiciled.

Page 2

Honorable W. J. “Bill” Hodge
OPINION 05-0215
Page 2

The “notarial act” referenced in R.S. 9:461 is not an “authentic act” as defined in Civil Code Art. 1833.1 In Succession of Thomson, 60 So.2d 411 (1952), the Louisiana Supreme Court, construing the term “notarial act” as it was used in Act 169 of 1940, (presently found in R.S. 9:461 as amended), distinguished “authentic act” and “notarial act” as follows:

It is significant that the later statute [Act 169 of 1940] does not require the adoption to be by authentic act or by an acknowledged private act, both of which are defined in the Civil Code and are required to be witnessed.
When the legislature provided that the adoption should be by notarial act signed by the interested parties without defining the words “notarial act” and without providing that it be witnessed, it is evident that the legislature did not intend that the act should be executed in the presence of and signed by witnesses. . . . Since the legislature has seen fit to dispense with the requirement that the adoption be effected by authentic act or acknowledged private act, it is evident that they did so for a purpose and we cannot, in the absence of any statute defining a notarial act, say that the legislature intended for the act to be passed in the presence of and signed by witnesses. 60 So.2d at 414.

In re RLV, 486 So.2d 206 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1986), the court cited Thomson with approval, stating: “Act 169 of 1940, construed in Thomson, supra, became La. R.S. 9:461 which has been amended in 1952, 1978, 1983 and 1984, none of which amendments has ever defined the term “notarial act” which is still the method of effecting a Section 461 adoption. Therefore, the rationale and holding of Thomson are as valid today as when the case was decided.” 486 So.2d at page 215.

Thus, the signatures of the parties may be notarized in Louisiana and separately in Massachusetts. The act of adoption need not be executed solely in Ouachita Parish.

Very truly yours,

CHARLES C. FOTI, JR.
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: _______ KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

KLK:ams
1
La.C.C. Art 1833 defines “authentic act” as “a writing executed before a notary public or other officer authorized to perform that function, in the presence of two witnesses, and signed by each party who executed it, by each witness, and by each notary public before whom it was executed.”

Page 3

Honorable W. J. “Bill” Hodge
OPINION 05-0215
Page 3

OPINION 05-0215
1-A Adoption

R.S. 9:461

While the act of adoption must be registered in the parish in which both the adoptive parent and the adult child to be adopted are domiciled, the act need not be executed within the parish. The signature of the adult child may be notarized at the adult child’s domicile where he resides out-of-state.

Honorable W. J. “Bill” Hodge
Clerk of Court
Parish of Ouachita
300 St. John, Room 104
Monroe, LA 71201

Date Received:
Date Released: June 15, 2005

KERRY L. KILPATRICK
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL