What are the adoption laws in South Dakota?

South Dakota adoption law is found in South Dakota Codified Laws Chapter 25-6, and adoption petitions, including stepparent adoptions, are filed in the Circuit Court in your county. There are 66 counties, so the clerk of courts in your county is your best contact for local forms and filing details.

Who can adopt a minor child: "Any minor child may be adopted by any adult person" (SDCL 25-6-2). The adopter must be at least 10 years older than the child, unless the court finds that adoption by that adult is in the child's best interest (SDCL 25-6-2). A married person adopting a child needs the spouse's consent, unless the spouses are lawfully separated or the spouse cannot consent (SDCL 25-6-3).

Key points for stepparent adoptions:

• Residency: South Dakota has no minimum residency period.
• Child's consent: A child who is 12 or older must consent (SDCL § 25-6-5).
• Abandonment: The abandonment period is 6 months (SDCL § 25-6-4(2)). If you think this applies to your situation, ask the Circuit Court clerk or an attorney how it works for your facts.
• Termination of rights: South Dakota does not treat termination as a separate proceeding in this process.
• Home study: Waived for stepparent adoptions (SDCL § 25-6-10).
• Timeline: Stepparent adoptions typically take 3-6 months.
• Filing fee: Amounts are set at the county level, so the Circuit Court clerk in your county can confirm the current fee.

Adult adoption: An adult may adopt another adult (SDCL 25-6-18). The adoptee must have lived in the adopter's home for at least 6 months while under age 21, and this must appear in the petition. That requirement is waived if the adoptee is the adopter's biological child. The petition must include a written agreement that the adoptee will be treated in all respects as the petitioner's natural child, and the adoptee must give written consent. Adult adoptions typically take 4-8 weeks. The home study rule in SDCL 25-6-9.1 applies to placing a child in a home, not to adults. A hearing is not expressly required. Under SDCL 25-6-19, the judge enters an order "upon showing of good cause" if the documents are in proper form and show the proper facts. Whether the spouse's consent rule applies to adult adoptions is something to confirm with the clerk or an attorney.

Situations that depend on your facts: If a biological parent is unknown, cannot be found, or will not agree, the outcome depends on your circumstances. Talk with the Circuit Court clerk about procedure and with an attorney about your specific case. For questions about birth records after an adoption, South Dakota Vital Records is the agency to contact.

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. Court-ready documents are delivered within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. The price is $349 for the first child (or for one adult adoptee) and $99 for each additional child. We have helped 187 South Dakota families, and 34,000+ families nationally since 2001.