Georgia Stepparent Adoption: How to Legally Adopt Your Stepchild Under OCGA § 19-8-6

The child calls you mom or dad. You've been there for school pickups, homework, doctor appointments, and years of ordinary family life. The legal paperwork hasn't caught up with reality yet — and now you want to change that.

Stepparent adoption in Georgia is one of the more accessible pathways in the adoption system, but it has procedural requirements that catch families off guard. Here's what the process actually looks like.

What Georgia Law Says

Stepparent adoption is governed by OCGA § 19-8-6. The core requirement: to legally adopt your stepchild, you must be married to the child's legal parent, and the other biological parent's parental rights must be either voluntarily surrendered or involuntarily terminated by the court.

That second part is where things get complicated.

If the Other Parent Agrees

When the other biological parent is willing to surrender parental rights, the process is relatively straightforward:

1. The other parent executes a formal surrender — a sworn, notarized document before an adult witness
2. Georgia's four-day revocation period applies (the parent can reconsider for four consecutive days after signing)
3. Once the revocation period expires without revocation, the surrender is irrevocable
4. The stepparent files a petition for adoption in the Superior Court of their county of residence
5. A finalization hearing is scheduled (typically within 2–6 months of filing)

Required documents for the petition:

• Completed home study (see below)
• Marriage certificate to the legal parent
• Child's birth certificate
• Signed surrender documents
• Attorney's affidavit of costs

No agency involvement is required. Most families work with a family law attorney who charges a flat fee for uncontested stepparent adoptions — typically $1,500–$3,500, plus the county court filing fee ($211–$218 depending on county).

If the Other Parent Refuses or Can't Be Located

This is the harder scenario, and the one that frequently surprises families.

Contested refusal: If the other parent is present and refuses to surrender, you must pursue involuntary termination of parental rights (TPR) through the Superior Court under OCGA § 15-11-310. Grounds include: abandonment, failure to support the child financially without justification, chronic neglect, or the parent's conduct being detrimental to the child's welfare. These are contested proceedings — expect attorney fees to climb significantly (potentially $10,000–$25,000+) and timelines to extend to 12+ months.

Parent cannot be located: If you genuinely don't know where the other parent is, service by publication is required — an advertisement in an approved newspaper in the county of the parent's last known residence, run for four consecutive weeks. If the parent doesn't respond within the statutory period, the court can proceed. This adds 6–12 weeks to the timeline.

Parent is absent and not supporting the child: If the other parent has had minimal contact with the child and has failed to provide financial support without good reason for a period of at least one year, Georgia law provides grounds for consent being unnecessary — the court can terminate parental rights and the adoption can proceed. Your attorney needs documented evidence of this abandonment.

The Home Study Requirement

Georgia requires a SAFE model home study for stepparent adoptions. This sometimes surprises stepparent petitioners who assume their established family situation means the evaluation is a formality — it's not.

The home study includes:

• At least three home visits on separate days
• Background checks (Live Scan fingerprinting) for the stepparent and all adults in the household
• Financial documentation and medical evaluations
• Three references per petitioner

The good news: stepparent home studies typically move faster and cost less than home studies for stranger adoptions because the evaluator is assessing an existing family unit. Expect $1,000–$2,500 for a stepparent adoption home study.

If the Child is 14 or Older

Georgia law requires the child's consent to the adoption if they are 14 or older (OCGA § 19-8-4). The child's consent must be signed in front of a notary. This is separate from the child's expressed wishes — even if the child enthusiastically wants the adoption to happen, their formal legal consent is required by statute.

Post-Finalization: What Changes Legally

When a stepparent adoption is finalized in Georgia Superior Court:

• The stepparent becomes the child's legal parent with full parental rights and responsibilities
• The other biological parent's legal relationship with the child is permanently terminated
• A new birth certificate is issued listing the adoptive stepparent as the child's parent
• The child gains inheritance rights and can be covered under the stepparent's employer insurance

Submit Georgia Form 3927 with the $35 fee to the Department of Public Health after finalization to obtain the new birth certificate.

Grandparent Adoption in Georgia

Grandparent adoptions follow OCGA § 19-8-7 (relative adoption) rather than § 19-8-6. The mechanics are similar — voluntary surrender or court-ordered TPR of both biological parents is required — but the family dynamics are often more complex.

Common scenarios for grandparent adoptions:

• Both biological parents surrender rights voluntarily (perhaps in a kinship crisis where parenting is no longer possible)
• One parent has died and the surviving parent surrenders or has rights terminated
• Both parents are incapacitated, incarcerated, or have abandoned the child, and DFCS or the court determines adoption by the grandparents is in the child's best interest

Georgia's HB 154 (2021) lowered the minimum age to petition for a relative adoption from 25 to 21, which matters for younger grandparents or aunts and uncles seeking to formalize kinship care arrangements.

Grandparents who have been approved as DFCS foster/resource parents may be caring for a grandchild who is legally free for adoption. In this case, the DFCS adoption pathway applies rather than the relative adoption statute — the process runs through the Juvenile Court and DFCS rather than through a private petition.

Typical Timeline for Stepparent Adoption

Grandparent and Relative Adoption Costs

Contested proceedings add attorney fees that can range from $10,000 to $30,000+ depending on the nature and length of the TPR litigation.

Stepparent and grandparent adoptions are among the most emotionally meaningful — and procedurally underestimated — adoptions in Georgia. The uncontested path is genuinely accessible. The contested path is a different matter entirely.

The Georgia Adoption Process Guide includes a full walkthrough of OCGA §§ 19-8-6 and 19-8-7, the surrender form requirements, and a checklist for the home study documentation that trips up most stepparent petitioners on their first submission.

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