Can I adopt multiple stepchildren at once in Wisconsin?

Yes, you can ask to adopt more than one stepchild in Wisconsin, and our service prepares the paperwork for several children together, at $99 for each additional child. Wisconsin allows either spouse to adopt a minor if the other spouse is the child's parent (Wis. Stat. § 48.82), so each stepchild you want to adopt would be a child of your spouse.

What stays the same for each child

• Court: Your case is filed in the Circuit Court in your Wisconsin county. The clerk can tell you how your county schedules hearings when more than one child is involved.
• Residency: Wisconsin has no minimum residency period for stepparent adoption. The adopter does need to be a Wisconsin resident under Wis. Stat. § 48.82.
• Child's consent: Wisconsin does not require the child's consent. A child 14 or older attends the hearing unless the court orders otherwise. If your children span different ages, the older ones would be expected at the hearing.
• Home study: The home study is waived in stepparent adoptions under Wis. Stat. § 48.88, so you are not facing a separate home study for each child.
• Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Wisconsin typically take 3-6 months.

Where the details can differ from child to child

Adopting several children at once is often simple when they all share the same other parent. It can get more complicated if they have different other parents, or if one parent's rights are in question. Wisconsin's abandonment ground is six months (Wis. Stat. § 48.415), but whether it applies depends on the facts for each child. If a parent is contesting the adoption, can't be found, or hasn't been involved in a child's life, talk to an attorney or the Circuit Court clerk about that child's situation before filing.

Questions for your county clerk

• The current court filing fee, and whether it is charged per child or per case
• Whether the court will hear all of your children's adoptions at one hearing
• Any local forms or practices your county requires

Wisconsin has 72 counties, and each clerk's office can answer these for your specific county.

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 the paperwork for each child you're adopting. Our fee 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 you file them yourself without an attorney. We back the work with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 385 families in Wisconsin and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.