Can a same-sex stepparent adopt in Maine?

Yes, a same-sex stepparent can adopt a spouse's child in Maine. The adoption is filed in the Probate Court in your county and follows Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C, Article 9, the same stepparent adoption process any Maine family uses.

What the process looks like in Maine:

• Court: Your petition is filed in the Probate Court. Maine has 16 counties, and each county's court has its own local filing details.
• Residency: Maine has no minimum residency period before you can file (18-C M.R.S. § 9-301).
• Child's consent: A child who is 12 or older must consent to the adoption (18-C M.R.S. § 9-302). There is no consent requirement for a younger child.
• Home study: Maine waives the home study for stepparent adoptions (18-C M.R.S. § 9-304).
• Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Maine typically take about 3-6 months.

The other legal parent: In most stepparent adoptions, the child's other legal parent either consents or the court addresses why consent isn't needed. Maine's abandonment standard uses a six-month period (18-C M.R.S. § 9-204; 22 M.R.S. § 4002(1-A)). Whether that applies depends on your family's specific facts. If the other parent is unknown, unreachable or likely to contest, talk to the Probate Court clerk in your county or an attorney about your situation.

Situations that depend on your facts: Families are not all built the same way. You may be married and adopting your spouse's biological or adopted child. You may be unmarried, or the child may have been born through donor conception or surrogacy. Some of these raise questions this page can't answer for you. Maine law on those points should be confirmed with the Probate Court clerk in your county or with a family law attorney who works with LGBTQ+ families. The clerk can also tell you the current filing fee, which varies by court, and any local forms or procedures.

After the adoption: Once the court finalizes the adoption, you can ask the Maine Office of Vital Records about updating the child's birth record. Ask them what paperwork they need so you can get certified copies of the court's order ready.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your Maine county. You then file it yourself, without an attorney. The price is $349 for the first child, plus $99 for each additional child. Your court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 151 Maine families, and more than 34,000 families nationwide since 2001.