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

Yes. South Dakota law says "any minor child may be adopted by any adult person" (SDCL 25-6-2), so each of you can ask the Circuit Court to adopt the children your spouse brought into the family. This is often called a mutual or cross-adoption. Each adoption rests on its own facts, and the clerk of the Circuit Court in your county can tell you whether the court takes the two petitions together or one after the other.

What applies to each child:

• Spouse's consent: SDCL 25-6-3 requires a married person to have the spouse's consent to adopt a child, unless the spouses are lawfully separated or the spouse cannot consent.
• Child's consent: A child who is 12 or older must consent (SDCL § 25-6-5). For a younger child, South Dakota law does not set a consent age.
• The other parent: For each child, the court will want to know where the child's other parent stands. South Dakota's abandonment provision uses a period of 6 months (SDCL § 25-6-4(2)). Whether it fits your situation depends on the facts. If the other parent objects, can't be found, or the situation is unclear, talk with an attorney or the Circuit Court clerk about that specific issue.
• Age difference: For a minor child, the adopter must be at least 10 years older than the child, unless the court finds the adoption is in the child's best interest (SDCL 25-6-2).

Residency and home study: South Dakota has no minimum residency period before you file. A home study is waived (SDCL § 25-6-10).

If some of your children are adults: An adult may adopt another adult (SDCL 25-6-18).

• The adoptee must have lived in the adopter's home for at least 6 months while under age 21, and this must appear in the petition. That requirement is waived if the adoptee is the adopter's biological child.
• The petition must include a written agreement that the adoptee will be treated in all respects as the petitioner's natural child.
• The adoptee gives written consent.
• The statute does not say whether the spouse-consent rule in SDCL 25-6-3 applies to adult adoptions, so ask the clerk or an attorney.
• A hearing is not expressly required. Under SDCL 25-6-19, the judge enters an order upon a showing of good cause if the documents are in proper form and show the proper facts.

Timeline: A stepparent adoption in South Dakota typically takes 3-6 months, and an adult adoption 4-8 weeks. Because your family involves two adoptions, ask the clerk how the court would schedule them.

Court fees: The Circuit Court sets its own filing fees, so the clerk in your county can confirm the current amount.

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 file it yourself without an attorney. The price is $349 for the first child (or for one adult adoptee) and $99 for each additional child. Court-ready documents are delivered within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 187 South Dakota families, and 34,000+ families nationally since 2001.