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

Yes. In New Hampshire, you and your spouse can each pursue a stepparent adoption of the other's children from prior relationships, so that you both become legal parents to every child in your blended family. Whether the Circuit Court in your county wants the petitions filed together or one after the other is a local question, and the Circuit Court clerk can tell you how they handle it.

How it works: You adopt your spouse's child or children, and your spouse adopts yours. Each adoption has to meet New Hampshire's requirements on its own facts, because each child has a different other parent and a different history. Because each of you is both a petitioner and the spouse of a petitioner, RSA 170-B:4 is the section that addresses who joins or assents. If you have questions about how it applies to a cross-adoption, the clerk or an attorney can confirm.

What to expect in each adoption:

• Court: Petitions go to the Circuit Court. New Hampshire has 10 counties, and the clerk in your county can confirm local filing steps and the current filing fee.
• Residency: New Hampshire has no minimum residency period (RSA 170-B:15, I).
• Child's consent: A child who is 14 or older must consent (RSA 170-B:3, I).
• Home study: It is waived for stepparent adoptions (RSA § 170-B:18).
• Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in New Hampshire typically run 3-6 months. The clerk can confirm whether your petitions would move together.

The other biological parent: Each child's other parent matters in each adoption. If that parent consents, the path is generally simpler. If a parent has not been involved, New Hampshire's abandonment provision (RSA § 170-C:5) refers to a 6-month period. Ending a parent's rights is a separate step from the adoption itself. Whether any of this applies to you depends on your facts, such as whether a parent is absent, cannot be found, or objects. For a contested case or an unknown parent, ask the Circuit Court clerk or an attorney about your specific situation.

After the adoption: Once you have a decree, you may want updated birth certificates for the children. The New Hampshire Division of Vital Records Administration handles those records, and the clerk can point you to the right steps.

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, with court-ready documents delivered within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions. You then file it yourselves without an attorney. The price is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child, and we offer a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 114 New Hampshire families, and 34,000+ families nationally since 2001.