The biological parent hasn't seen my child in over a year. Can I adopt in Maine?

Yes, a year or more without contact can support a stepparent adoption in Maine, and it is longer than Maine's 6-month abandonment period. Whether your situation qualifies depends on the facts, so the details below are worth reading.

What Maine's abandonment period means for you. Maine uses a 6-month abandonment period (18-C M.R.S. § 9-204; 22 M.R.S. § 4002(1-A)). Over a year without the biological parent seeing your child is well beyond that timeframe. Still, "not seeing" a child is not always the same as having no contact at all. Calls, messages, support payments or attempts to visit can matter, and the Probate Court looks at the full picture. If the other parent has had any contact, or you're unsure how your situation would be viewed, ask the Probate Court clerk in your county or an attorney about your specific facts.

Where you file. Stepparent adoptions in Maine are handled by the Probate Court in your county. Maine has 16 counties, and each has its own court. The clerk can tell you the current filing fee and any local procedures.

Other Maine requirements that often come up:

• Residency: Maine has no minimum residency period (18-C M.R.S. § 9-301), so you don't have to wait to meet a residency requirement before filing.
• Child's consent: A child who is 12 or older must consent to the adoption (18-C M.R.S. § 9-302).
• Home study: In Maine, the home study is waived for stepparent adoptions (18-C M.R.S. § 9-304).
• Termination: Maine does not treat termination of the other parent's rights as a separate case in a stepparent adoption.

Timeline. Stepparent adoptions in Maine typically take about 3-6 months. Your timeline can vary with your county's court schedule and with whether the other parent responds or objects.

When to get extra help. If the biological parent is likely to contest the adoption, if you don't know where they are, or if you're unsure whether another person has legal rights regarding your child, those questions turn on specific facts. Ask the Probate Court clerk in your county or a Maine family law attorney about them directly.

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 cost 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 151 Maine families, so we know how the process works here.