Can I adopt my stepchild if I'm in the military stationed in Alabama?

Yes, if you are legally married to your stepchild's parent, you can pursue a stepparent adoption in Alabama while stationed here. Alabama allows any legally married spouse to adopt their partner's child through the stepparent adoption process, and the case is filed in the Probate Court.

Residency: Alabama sets no minimum residency period for this adoption (Ala. Code § 26-10E-5(e)(3)), so you don't have to wait a set number of months after arriving. Alabama does describe petitioners as bona fide Alabama residents (Ala. Code § 26-10E-5(e)). How your military orders count toward that, and which county is the right one to file in, should be confirmed with the Probate Court clerk in the county where you live or are stationed. Alabama has 67 counties, and each clerk's office can explain its local process.

What the court will look for:

• Your spouse's consent: The child's legal parent, your spouse, must consent to the adoption.
• Your stepchild's consent: A child who is 14 or older must consent (Ala. Code § 26-10E-7(a)(1)).
• The other legal parent: This parent must either consent or be shown to have grounds for implied consent. Alabama's abandonment provisions use a period of 4 months (Ala. Code § 26-10E-9(a)(1), (a)(4)). If the other parent is unreachable or objects, the outcome depends on your facts, so talk with the clerk or an attorney about that specific situation.
• Notice to the other parent: Alabama allows personal service, or service by publication if the parent's location is unknown.

Home study: Alabama does not waive the home study (Ala. Code § 26-10E-26(2)). The process includes a DHR pre-placement investigation. If your duty schedule, training, or a deployment might make scheduling difficult, ask the clerk early how that step works so it doesn't slow you down.