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

Yes, in Mississippi each spouse can ask the Chancery Court to adopt the other's child, which means two stepparent adoptions in one family. You would each be the petitioner for your stepchild, and your spouse's consent is part of the paperwork. Mississippi's adoption statutes don't say whether to file the two cases together or separately, so the Chancery Court clerk in your county can tell you how they prefer to handle it.

What each adoption involves:

• Court: Chancery Court in the county where you or the child lives (Mississippi has 82 counties).
• Residency: Miss. Code § 93-17-3 sets a 6-month residency rule.
• Petition and consents: You file a Petition for Adoption along with consent forms, or a motion to waive consent. Your spouse also consents to the adoption.
• The other biological parent: Under Miss. Code § 93-17-5, a child's parents are brought in either by being served or by signing a consent. Service can be by sheriff or process server, or by publication if the parent's location is unknown. Abandonment is addressed in Miss. Code § 93-15-103, which uses a 12-month period.
• Child's consent: A child who is 14 or older must give consent under Miss. Code § 93-17-5. If you have children on both sides of the family, this applies to each child separately.
• Home study: Miss. Code § 93-17-11 waives the home study for stepparent adoptions.

Where it gets fact-specific: Some situations depend on your circumstances, such as a biological parent who won't consent, one you can't locate, or one whose rights haven't been addressed. For those, ask the Chancery Court clerk or a Mississippi attorney about your specific case. The same goes for how the court wants cases for two sets of children scheduled or combined.

Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Mississippi typically take 3-6 months. The data doesn't say how running two cases at once affects that, so ask the clerk about scheduling.

Cost: Court filing fees in Mississippi typically run $150-$300, and the total cost of a stepparent adoption you handle yourself is typically under $1,000. Hiring an attorney commonly runs $3,000-$5,000 or more. Check with the clerk whether you will pay a filing fee for each petition.

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 county. You then file it yourself without an attorney. The price is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. You receive court-ready documents within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we offer a 100% court acceptance guarantee.