Can I adopt my stepchild in Alaska if I was previously married to someone else?

Yes. Alaska's adoption law does not list a previous marriage as a barrier to adopting your stepchild. The questions that matter are about your family today: your relationship to the child's parent, the consent of the people the law requires, and the Superior Court's review of the adoption.

Who may adopt: Alaska Stat. AS 25.23.020 allows a husband and wife to adopt together. It also lets a married person adopt without the other spouse joining in limited circumstances listed in the statute, for example when the other spouse is the child's parent and consents. That is the situation many stepparents are in. The sections we reviewed do not mention earlier marriages. If you want to know whether the court expects paperwork about a prior divorce or a spouse who has died, the Superior Court clerk in your borough can confirm. Alaska law on how a past marriage is treated in a contested situation is also best confirmed with the clerk or an attorney.

What the Superior Court looks at instead:

• Residency: Alaska has no minimum residency period for filing.
• Child's consent: A child who is 10 or older must consent (Alaska Stat. § 25.23.040).
• Other parent's consent or abandonment: The other legal parent's consent matters. Where a parent has abandoned the child, Alaska sets the period at 6 months (Alaska Stat. § 25.23.050(a)(1)-(2)).
• Home study: Alaska waives the home study for stepparent adoptions (Alaska Stat. § 25.23.100).

Where it gets individual: Some situations depend on the facts, such as a biological parent who will not consent, an unknown parent, or a parent you cannot locate. For those, ask the Superior Court clerk in your borough or an attorney about your specific case. Also ask the clerk about filing fees, because the amount depends on the court.

Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Alaska typically take about 3-6 months.

Your history does not define your family. Many blended families have earlier marriages behind them. Your marriage history is not what Alaska's adoption statutes, found in Alaska Statutes Title 25, Chapter 23, focus on. They focus on the child and the legal parents' consents.

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. Your court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 126 Alaska families, and more than 34,000 families nationwide since 2001.