Your question, explained
In California, stepparent adoptions are filed in Superior Court under California Family Code Division 13. California has 58 counties, and our document package is customized specifically for your county's requirements and forms. Each county may have slightly different procedures or supplemental forms, and we know exactly what each one requires because we've helped families file in every county in California.
Stepparent adoption in California at a glance
- Court
- Superior Court
- Residency before filing
- Must be actual residents of California; no specific duration required
- Typical timeline
- 3 months
- Court filing fee
- $200-$500
- Child must consent at age
- 12
- Home study
- Usually waived for stepparents
- California families we've helped
- 1,219
Published by Douglas Brown & the StepParent Adoption 360 team
Adoption document specialists · 25+ years of experience · 34,000+ families helped.
Page layout updated . Individual answers have different research histories. This is general information; court requirements and individual circumstances can differ. Document preparation service, not a law firm.
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