Can both my spouse and I adopt each other's children from prior relationships in Indiana?

Yes, in Indiana each of you can ask a Circuit or Superior Court for a stepparent adoption of your spouse's child, so both of you can become legal parents to all of the children in your family. This is often called a cross-adoption or mutual adoption. In practice it is a separate stepparent adoption for each child. Whether the cases are filed together or one after the other, and how your county handles that, is something the Circuit or Superior Court clerk in your county can confirm.

What each adoption involves:

• Your adoption of your stepchild: you are the stepparent, and your spouse is the child's legal parent.
• Your spouse's adoption of your child: the roles are reversed, and the same steps apply.
• The other biological parent of each child: each child has their own other parent, so each case is looked at on its own facts.

Indiana requirements that apply to each case:

• Residency: Indiana has no minimum residency period (Ind. Code § 31-19-2-2).
• Child's consent: a child who is 14 or older must consent (Ind. Code § 31-19-9-1). If you have teenagers, each one will be asked about the adoption that involves them.
• Other parent's consent: Indiana courts can proceed without consent if that parent has failed to maintain meaningful contact or support. The abandonment period is 6 months (Ind. Code § 31-19-9-8). Contested situations depend on the facts, so an attorney can advise you on your specific case.
• Home study: it is waived for stepparent adoptions (Ind. Code § 31-19-8-5).
• Length of marriage: Indiana sets no minimum, but courts want to see a stable relationship.
• Unknown location: if a child's other parent cannot be found after reasonable efforts, Indiana has procedures for notice by publication.
• Back child support: unpaid support does not prevent an adoption, though