Code of Alabama - Title 26: Infants and Incompetents - Chapter 10A - Alabama Adoption Code

• Section 26-10A-1 Short title
  This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the Alabama Adoption Code.
• Section 26-10A-2 Definitions
  The following words and phrases shall have the following meaning whenever used in this chapter except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning: (1)...
• Section 26-10A-3 Jurisdiction
  The probate court shall have original jurisdiction over proceedings brought under the chapter. If any party whose consent is required fails to consent or is...
• Section 26-10A-4 Venue
  All petitions may be filed in the probate court in the county in which: (1) The minor or adult resides or has a legal residence;...
• Section 26-10A-5 Who may adopt
  (a) Any adult person or husband and wife jointly who are adults may petition the court to adopt a minor. (1) No rule or regulation...
• Section 26-10A-6 Who may be adopted
  The following persons may be adopted: (1) A minor. (2) An adult under any one of the following conditions: a. He or she is an...
• Section 26-10A-7 Persons whose consents or relinquishment are required
  (a) Consent to the petitioner's adoption or relinquishment for adoption to the Department of Human Resources or a licensed child placing agency shall be required...
• Section 26-10A-8 Consent or relinquishment by a minor parent
  (a) Prior to a minor parent giving consent a guardian ad litem must be appointed to represent the interests of a minor parent whose consent...
• Section 26-10A-9 Implied consent or relinquishment
  (a) A consent or relinquishment required by Section 26-10A-7 may be implied by any of the following acts of a parent: (1) Abandonment of the...
• Section 26-10A-10 Persons whose consents or relinquishments are not required
  Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 26-10A-7, the consent or relinquishment of the following persons shall not be required for an adoption: (1) A parent whose...
• Section 26-10A-11 Consent or relinquishment
  (a) A consent or relinquishment shall be in writing, signed by the person consenting or relinquishing, and shall state the following: (1) The date, place,...
• Section 26-10A-12 Persons who may take consent or relinquishments; forms
  (a) A consent of the natural mother taken prior to the birth of a child shall be signed or confirmed before a judge of probate....
• Section 26-10A-13 Time of consent or relinquishment; filing with court
  (a) A consent or relinquishment may be taken at any time, except that once signed or confirmed, may be withdrawn within five days after birth...
• Section 26-10A-14 Withdrawal of consent or relinquishment
  (a) The consent or relinquishment, once signed or confirmed, may not be withdrawn except: (1) As provided in Section 26-10A-13; or (2) At any time...
• Section 26-10A-15 Surrender of custody of minor under age of majority
  (a) No health facility shall surrender the physical custody of an adoptee to any person other than the Department of Human Resources, a licensed child...
• Section 26-10A-16 Petition
  (a) A petition for adoption shall be filed with the clerk of the court within 30 days after the minor is placed with the prospective...
• Section 26-10A-17 Notice of petition
  (a) Unless service has been previously waived, notice of pendency of the adoption proceeding shall be served by the petitioner on: (1) Any person, agency,...
• Section 26-10A-18 Custody pending final decree
  Once a petitioner has received the adoptee into his or her home for the purposes of adoption and a petition for adoption has been filed,...
• Section 26-10A-19 Investigation
  (a) A pre-placement investigation shall be made to determine the suitability of each petitioner and the home in which the adoptee will be placed. The...
• Section 26-10A-20 Removal of adoptee from county
  After the petitioner has received the adoptee into his or her home, the adoptee shall not be removed from the county in which the petitioner...
• Section 26-10A-21 Related proceedings
  If, at any time during the pendency of the adoption proceeding, it is determined that any other custody action concerning the adoptee is pending in...
• Section 26-10A-22 Attorney participation and appointment of attorney for the adoptee or other party
  (a) In making adoption arrangements, potential adopting parents and birth parents may obtain counsel to provide legal advice and assistance. (b) Upon the motion of...
• Section 26-10A-23 Fees and charges
  (a) No person, organization, group, agency, or any legal entity may accept any fee whatsoever for bringing the adopting parent or parents together with the...
• Section 26-10A-24 Contested hearing
  (a) Whenever a motion contesting the adoption is filed, the court shall set the matter for a contested hearing to determine: (1) Whether the best...
• Section 26-10A-25 Final decree; dispositional hearing
  (a) When the pre-placement investigation has been completed and approved or the investigation has been waived for good cause shown, the petition for adoption shall...
• Section 26-10A-26 Appeals
  (a) Appeals from any final decree of adoption shall be taken to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals and filed within 14 days from the...
• Section 26-10A-27 Stepparent adoptions
  Any person may adopt his or her spouse's child according to the provisions of this chapter, except that: (1) Before the filing of the petition...
• Section 26-10A-28 Adoption by other relatives
  A grandfather, a grandmother, great-grandfather, great-grandmother, great-uncle, great-aunt, a brother, or a half-brother, a sister, a half-sister, an aunt or an uncle of the first...
• Section 26-10A-29 Name and status of adoptee
  (a) The adoptee shall take the name designated by the petitioner. After adoption, the adoptee shall be treated as the natural child of the adopting...
• Section 26-10A-30 Grandparent visitation
  Post-adoption visitation rights for the natural grandparents of the adoptee may be granted when the adoptee is adopted by a stepparent, a grandfather, a grandmother,...
• Section 26-10A-31 Confidentiality of records, hearing; parties
  (a) After the petition is filed and prior to the entry of the final decree, the records in adoption proceedings shall be open to inspection...
• Section 26-10A-32 Birth certificates
  (a) Within 10 days of the final decree being entered the judge or the clerk of the court shall send a copy of the final...
• Section 26-10A-33 Crime to place children for adoption
  Only a parent, a parent of a deceased parent, or a relative of the degree of relationship specified in Section 26-10A-28, the Department of Human...
• Section 26-10A-34 Payments to parent for placing minor for adoption; maternity expenses; receipt of financial benefits by father
  (a) It shall be a Class A misdemeanor for any person or agency to offer to pay money or anything of value to a parent...
• Section 26-10A-35 Bringing child into state for adoption purposes
  Children may be brought into Alabama for purposes of adoption as provided in Section 38-7-15 except that investigations shall be made as provided in Section
• Section 26-10A-36 Advertisement as to adoption by persons, organizations, etc., not licensed by Department of Human Resources
  It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, organizations, corporation, partnership, hospital, association, or any agency to advertise verbally, through print, electronic media, or...
• Section 26-10A-37 Rules of procedure and rules of evidence
  The Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules of Evidence apply to the probate court in adoption proceedings to the extent they apply under Section
• Section 26-10A-38 Application to existing adoptions
  Final orders of adoptions entered prior to January 1, 1991, remain in effect on January 1, 1991, even though the statute under which the adoption...

Last modified: May 3, 2021