Alabama Stepparent Adoption Petition and Decree Filing Packet

ALABAMA STEPPARENT ADOPTION PETITION AND DECREE FILING PACKET

Use the current official forms. This packet is a completion, source, and
filing-control worksheet. It is not a substitute for Alabama AOC Form PR-1,
the signer-specific consent forms, the court's final-judgment form, or a
county probate court's current instructions.

Alabama repealed former Title 26, Chapter 10A. Current minor-adoption law is
in Title 26, Chapter 10E.

1. MATTER AND COUNSEL CONTROL

☐ The petitioner is the current spouse or surviving spouse of an adoptee's
legal mother or legal father and is not a former spouse by divorce or
annulment. See § 26-10E-2(20).

☐ The petition will be filed in the stepparent's name alone, as directed by
§ 26-10E-5(d), rather than jointly in both spouses' names.

☐ The petitioner is an adult. Any residency or interstate-placement issue
under § 26-10E-5(e) has been reviewed.

2. COURT, VENUE, AND TRANSFER GATE

Section 26-10E-3 gives the probate court original jurisdiction. Record every
other custody, visitation, parentage, termination, or adoption case before
filing because § 26-10E-3 provides specific transfer and stay routes.

A. Venue under § 26-10E-4

Select and document a statutory venue:

☐ County where the adoptee was born, resides, or has a legal domicile.

☐ County where the petitioner resides or is in military service.

☐ County where the qualifying agency or institution has an office.

☐ Another county under § 26-10E-4(b), with good cause, no timely objection,
and the probate court's written best-interest determination.

Venue facts and source documents:

[____________________________________________________________]

B. Other proceedings and non-consent

☐ Counsel reviewed whether § 26-10E-3(b), (c), or (d) requires or permits a
transfer or stay.

A required parent's failure or inability to consent is not cured by drafting
around it. Section 26-10E-3(b) provides a limited juvenile-court transfer route
for termination of parental rights.

3. DOWNLOAD THE CURRENT OFFICIAL FORM SET

Official Alabama AOC Probate Forms index:

https://eforms.alacourt.gov/probate-forms/

Download fresh copies and record the displayed revision date:

☐ The current AOC form, not a privately drafted substitute, will be filed when
the court supplies a prescribed form.

☐ No form for a case filed before January 1, 2024 was selected for a new case.

☐ The official form's fields were reconciled with current Chapter 10E and any
local probate-court instruction.

4. COMPLETE FORM PR-1 UNDER § 26-10E-16

The petition must bear the statutory caption and be signed and verified by the
petitioner. Use Form PR-1 and confirm it records each required item.

A. Petition facts

☐ Petitioner's full name, date of birth, residence, and relationship to the
adoptee.

☐ Date and place of the petitioner's marriage to the adoptee's legal parent.

☐ Adoptee's date and place of birth, if known.

☐ Adoptee's birth name, every other known name, and proposed post-adoption
name.

☐ Date physical custody and residence with the petitioner began, or the
supported good-cause statement allowed by § 26-10E-16(a)(4).

☐ Petitioner's desire to establish a parent-child relationship and facts
supporting fitness and ability to provide for the adoptee.

☐ Every known prior or pending custody, visitation, or parentage proceeding.

☐ Every person or agency whose consent or relinquishment is required, with
whether consent is express or allegedly implied.

☐ Every other person or agency entitled to notice under § 26-10E-17.

B. Petition attachments

☐ Government-issued photo identification for the petitioner.

☐ Certified proof of marriage or supported common-law-marriage affidavit.

☐ Adoptee's certified birth certificate issued within six months before
filing, or the statutory affidavit that an application was made.

☐ Placement authorization, if applicable.

☐ Accessible orders affecting custody, visitation, or parentage.

☐ Every existing express consent or relinquishment relied upon.

☐ Limited stepparent-investigation material required by § 26-10E-26.

☐ Any fee or expense material ordered by the court.

Section 26-10E-16(c)'s unknown-father affidavit exception expressly includes a
stepparent adoption. Counsel must still disclose known biological parentage
under § 26-10E-16(d) and complete the consent, notice, and registry analysis.

5. CONSENT, NOTICE, AND PUTATIVE-FATHER CONTROL

A. Required-consent analysis

Use §§ 26-10E-7 through -10 and complete one row for every possible signer.

☐ Any minor parent received a guardian ad litem before express consent or
relinquishment as required by § 26-10E-8.

☐ Every express consent uses the current signer-specific AOC form and complies
with §§ 26-10E-11 through -14.

Do not reuse the former Chapter 10A five-calendar-day wording. Section
26-10E-13(b) uses five business days after birth or signing, whichever
comes last.

B. Implied-consent fact screen

Section 26-10E-9 uses rebuttable presumptions and specified proof standards.
Do not present a checkbox allegation as a court finding.

☐ Counsel prepared any verified affidavit required by Form PR-1 for an alleged
implied consent.

C. Putative Father Registry

Under § 26-10C-1, registration information is confidential and the Department
provides registry information to the court as authorized by statute.

A claimed natural father who fails to file the statutory notice before or
within 30 days after birth may fall within § 26-10C-1(i) and § 26-10E-9(d).
Counsel must verify the facts, parentage status, service, and applicable route.

D. Notice under § 26-10E-17

☐ Notice list includes each required-consent person or entity.

☐ Notice list includes the legal father and any qualifying putative father.

☐ The petitioner's spouse is listed unless an express consent is attached.

☐ Required custodian, guardian, visitation holder, investigator, State DHR,
county DHR, grandparent, or other court-designated recipient is included.

☐ Notice states the required 30-day written-response consequences.

☐ Service complies with the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure or a court-
ordered alternative method.

☐ Proof of service and any valid written waiver are filed.

6. LIMITED STEPPARENT INVESTIGATION

The legacy Chapter 10A packet incorrectly treated the investigation as waived.
Current § 26-10E-26 requires a limited investigation.

A. Investigator

Select an authorized investigator under § 26-10E-26(5):

☐ State Department of Human Resources.

☐ Licensed child-placing agency.

☐ Alabama social worker licensed and certified for private independent
practice in the social-casework specialty.

Investigator, credentials, and contact:

[____________________________________________________________]

B. Required investigation items

The legal parent of the adoptee is excluded from the listed household checks.

☐ Letters of suitability for each other adult living in the home.

☐ Child-abuse and neglect clearances for each other household member age 14 or
older from each state in which a petitioner resided during the preceding five
years.

☐ Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website search for each other
household member age 14 or older.

☐ Home-safety inspection.

☐ Any additional information directed by the court.

☐ Information in the report was obtained within 12 months before the final-
judgment hearing.

☐ The report will be filed within 30 days after the petition filing date.

A court may require more information and may allow only the limited good-cause
deviation described in § 26-10E-26(3). Do not describe the report as waived.

Section 26-10E-26(9) says no report of fees and charges under § 26-10E-22 is
made unless the court orders one. Record any court order here:

[____________________________________________________________]

7. ONE-YEAR RESIDENCE AND FINAL-JUDGMENT CONTROL

Section 26-10E-26(1) requires the adoptee to have resided with the stepparent
for one year before entry of the final judgment.

Section 26-10E-24 directs the court to set a dispositional hearing as soon as
practicable and no later than 120 days after filing unless extended for good
cause. Counsel must coordinate that schedule with the one-year requirement.

Final-hearing file

☐ All required consents, relinquishments, terminations, or waivers are filed.

☐ Notice was served or lawfully dispensed with for every entitled recipient.

☐ Every contest has been resolved in the petitioner's favor.

☐ The limited investigation and required background materials are filed.

☐ The petitioner's fitness, desire to create the relationship, and the
adoptee's best interest are supported by admissible evidence.

☐ Any child-support-payment history requested by § 26-10E-24 is addressed.

☐ The correct AOC related-adoption final-judgment form was supplied to the
court, selected according to whether implied consent is involved.

Under § 26-10E-28, an adoptee age 14 or older may elect to retain the current
legal name unless the court finds a lack of mental capacity.

Adoptee's name election and consent form:

[____________________________________________________________]

8. ICWA AND INTERSTATE PLACEMENT GATES

A. Indian Child Welfare Act

An adoptive placement and a termination-of-parental-rights action can be a
"child custody proceeding" under 25 U.S.C. § 1903. If the child may be an
"Indian child" as defined there, counsel must determine the governing tribal
jurisdiction, notice, intervention, consent, placement, and proof rules.

For an involuntary state-court proceeding where the court knows or has reason
to know an Indian child is involved, 25 U.S.C. § 1912 supplies specific notice
and hearing safeguards. Do not use ordinary Chapter 10E notice as a substitute.

B. Interstate Compact

Ala. Code §§ 26-10E-5, 26-10E-19, 26-10E-34, and 44-2-20 contain interstate-
placement rules and exceptions. Article VIII of the Compact includes a
specified parent, stepparent, relative, and nonagency-guardian exception.

☐ Counsel determined whether the actual movement and placement falls within
the Compact rather than assuming that every interstate fact triggers it.

☐ If applicable, the current AOC ICPC Checklist and approval record are in the
file before movement or placement.

Interstate analysis:

[____________________________________________________________]

9. POST-JUDGMENT AND BIRTH-RECORD CONTROL

Under § 26-10E-31, within 10 days after entry of the final judgment, the judge
or clerk sends a certified copy to State DHR and sends a certified copy with
the official report of adoption to the Office of Vital Statistics.

Sections 26-10E-31 and 22-9A-12 govern the new birth record and sealing of the
original record and adoption evidence. Confirm current Vital Statistics fees
and procedures rather than relying on a historical fee printed on an older
form.

☐ Certified copies requested through the court's current process.

☐ Name, parent, and birth information on the final judgment and Report of
Adoption match exactly.

☐ Any foreign-birth or out-of-state-birth route received separate review.

10. ATTORNEY FINAL REVIEW

☐ No former Chapter 10A citation remains.

☐ Form PR-1 and every attachment are complete and internally consistent.

☐ Parentage, consent, implied-consent, registry, service, and transfer routes
were reviewed signer by signer.

☐ The limited investigation is timely and complete.

☐ The one-year residence date precedes the proposed final judgment.

☐ ICWA and ICPC gates were affirmatively screened.

☐ The current AOC related-adoption judgment and Report of Adoption are ready.

Attorney: [________________________________]

Review date: [__/__/____]

11. OFFICIAL SOURCES

• Current Alabama Minor Adoption Code:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=26-10E-2

• Stepparent adoptions, Ala. Code § 26-10E-26:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=26-10E-26

• Putative Father Registry, Ala. Code § 26-10C-1:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=26-10C-1

• New birth certificate, Ala. Code § 22-9A-12:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=22-9A-12

• Interstate Compact, Ala. Code § 44-2-20:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=44-2-20

• Alabama AOC Probate Forms:
  https://eforms.alacourt.gov/probate-forms/

• 25 U.S.C. § 1903:
  https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title25-section1903&num=0&edition=prelim

• 25 U.S.C. § 1912:
  https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title25-section1912&num=0&edition=prelim

• Official SB 94 / Act 2025-407 and current bill records:
  https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/bill-search

This packet is informational only. Use the current official forms and obtain
review by a qualified Alabama adoption attorney before filing.