In this answer · 3 sections
Yes, in Alaska each of you can adopt your spouse's child. The adoption statute allows a married person to adopt without the other spouse joining in certain listed circumstances. One example is when the other spouse is the child's parent and consents (AS 25.23.020). That fits a blended family where each of you is the legal parent of one child and wants to become the legal parent of the other's child.
How it works for your family:
- Each adoption is a petition filed in the Superior Court.
- Your spouse signs consent to your adoption of their child, and you sign consent to your spouse's adoption of yours.
- Whether to file the petitions together or one after the other, and how the court handles that, is something the Superior Court clerk in your borough can confirm.
What Alaska requires for each adoption:
- Residency: There is no minimum residency period.
- The other parent: Each child has another legal parent, and that parent's consent, or the question of abandonment, has to be dealt with. Alaska's abandonment period is 6 months (Alaska Stat. § 25.23.050(a)(1)-(2)). Whether it applies to your situation depends on your facts, so check with the clerk or an attorney, especially if the other parent is unknown, unreachable or may object.
- Child's consent: A child who is 10 or older must consent (Alaska Stat. § 25.23.040). Younger children are not asked to consent.
- Home study: The home study is waived in a stepparent adoption (Alaska Stat. § 25.23.100).
Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Alaska typically take 3-6 months. Because your two petitions rest on the same family circumstances, you may be able to move them along in step, but the clerk can tell you how your court schedules them.
Questions to settle first:
- Whether the other parent of each child will consent, or whether abandonment may apply.
- Whether the court wants the petitions filed together or separately.
- The exact court filing fee for each petition, which the Superior Court cl
Stepparent adoption in Alaska at a glance
- Court
- Superior Court
- Residency before filing
- No minimum period
- Typical timeline
- 3-6 months
- Child must consent at age
- 10
- Home study
- Usually waived for stepparents
- Alaska families we've helped
- 126
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