Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana

Re: Adoption

Under Indiana law, the person who wants to do the adopting must petition the court in their county to approve of the adoption. In situations such as yourself, you would consent to the adoption as well as the biological father. If the biological father is not known, then you have to publish notice of the adoption petition in a newspaper of general circulation at least three times. Usually when I file a petition, I try to have all of the consents attached as it speeds up things.

After the filing of the petition, the court sends out a request for a home study to be done, and a report is filed with the court by the agency who did the home study. At some point, a hearing is held, and evidence is heard from the individual petitioning for the adoption, other supporting witnesses such as you, grand parents, the child, etc.

What I have just described is the general course of action where the petitioning person is married to one of the natural parents of the child and the other biological parent has no problem with the adoption or the other biological parent is unknown. It is unusual for a "boyfriend" to initiate adoption proceedings, and unless the child is completely devoid of any family relation or contact, or is a special needs child, I imagine the Court would be reluctant to approve it. Also, some counties, like Marion County have a local rule where the adoption will not be approved if the couple has been married for less than a year. In Marion County, the court can waive this rule if it finds that good cause exists for the adoption to go through. I believe the policy behind such a rule is to give the marriage a chance before introducing such a long-term financial obligation on the part of the adoptive parent.