We divorced and remarried — can my spouse adopt my child now in Rhode Island?

Yes. If you and your spouse have remarried, you can ask the Rhode Island Family Court to consider a stepparent adoption of your child, and the Rhode Island requirements below do not single out an earlier divorce. The questions that matter are the ones the court asks of every stepparent adoption, so here is what applies to your family now.

Where it is filed: Stepparent adoptions of children go to the Family Court. Rhode Island has 5 counties, and the clerk in your county can tell you about local filing steps and the current filing fee.

What Rhode Island sets out:

• Residency: Rhode Island has no minimum residency period for this kind of petition (R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-7-4).
• Your child's consent: A child who is 14 or older must consent to the adoption (R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-7-5(a)).
• Home study: The home study is waived for stepparent adoptions (R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-7-11).
• Abandonment: Rhode Island's abandonment provision uses a period of 6 months (R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-7-7). Whether it could apply to your child's other parent depends on the facts.

How your divorce fits in: Your earlier divorce and your remarriage are part of your family's history, but the Rhode Island information above does not say that a divorce changes eligibility or the process. If your divorce paperwork includes orders about custody, support or parental rights, ask the Family Court clerk or an attorney how those orders relate to your petition. That answer depends on what the orders say.

The child's other biological parent: This is the point that usually turns on specific facts. If that parent is willing to take part, is hard to locate, is not involved, or disagrees with the adoption, the right steps depend on your situation. Please talk with an attorney or the Family Court clerk about your case before filing.

Timeline: Stepparent adoptions in Rhode Island generally take about 3-6 months. Your own timing depends on your county and on whether anything in your case is contested.

Other questions to confirm locally: If you are unsure how the court will treat a particular detail of your history, such as a prior order or a gap in contact with the other parent, the clerk in your county can confirm what the court expects. An attorney can advise on a contested or unusual situation.

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, which you then file yourself without an attorney. The cost 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 26 Rhode Island families, and more than 34,000 families nationally since 2001.