Adoption

If you wish to legally adopt a child or adult, this is the place to start.  You may consult our Instruction Form for more detailed information. (Click for form)

All forms that are linked below can be filled out by the applicant on-line.   However, the applicant still needs to print out the form, sign it and then submit it to Plymouth County Probate and Family Court either by mail or in person.

Here you will find:

What to file:  

	No filing fee.
	Birth Certificate of the child which must be a recent “Standard Certificate of Live Birth”, sometimes called a Long-Form Birth Certificate.  You need to get this form from the city or town hall in the town where the child was born.
	Petition for Adoption. You MUST file ONE form for each child (Click for form)
	Affidavit of Petitioner for Adoption (Click for form)
	Surrender Form (Click for form)
	Affidavit Disclosing Care or Custody of a child, you MUST file this form.
	Affidavit Disclosing Care and Custody (Click for form)
	Affidavit Disclosing Care and Custody Page 2 (Click for form)
	Motion for Waiver of Department of Social Services Report.  To be used in Step-Parent Adoptions.  Page one MUST be printed on the back of Page two.  (Click for form)
	Request for Record Information (CP-2) (Click for form)

Where to file:

All papers above should be filed:

What to Expect after you file:

After you file the above appropriate papers with the court, you will be required to notify persons interested (i.e. parents of the minor child being adopted, guardians, etc.)

To notify persons interested, the Court will send you a “citation” in the mail.  You might need to have this citation published in a newspaper and/or mail to the appropriate parties.  The citation will have instructions for you to follow.

After you have complied with the instructions on the citation, you must file the original citation with the Court, indicating your compliance by completing the back of the citation.

Upon receipt of the original citation containing your statement of compliance and of all required information, and if there is no objection to the adoption, the Court will notify you to select a date for a hearing.  After the hearing, the Court will usually issue a Decree of Adoption and send you a certified copy of the Certificate of Adoption.

If there are objections to the adoption, the matter will be scheduled for a Pre-Trial Conference.  At the Pre-Trial Conference, a trial date will be established if the matter is not resolved.