Kinship Adoption in New Hampshire: Grandparents and Relatives Guide

You did not plan to raise your grandchild, your niece, or your nephew. But a parent's addiction, illness, incarceration, or death made you the person standing between that child and an uncertain future. You stepped up. Now you need the law to recognize what your life already reflects: that you are this child's parent.

New Hampshire has approximately 8,000 children being raised by grandparents or other relatives — many of them in the wake of the opioid epidemic that has devastated communities from the North Country to the Seacoast. The law provides several paths to legal permanency for these families, and kinship adoption through RSA 170-B has specific provisions designed to make that process more accessible for relatives.

Legal Guardianship vs. Kinship Adoption: The Key Difference

Before going further, it is worth being clear about the choice between legal guardianship and adoption — because they are not the same thing, and the right choice depends on your circumstances.

Legal guardianship gives you legal authority over the child's daily life — medical decisions, school enrollment, housing. It does not terminate the biological parents' rights. They remain the child's legal parents. Guardianship can be modified or revoked by the court if a biological parent demonstrates they have rehabilitated. It is often faster and cheaper than adoption. For grandparents who believe a parent may eventually recover and resume their role, or who have cultural or family reasons to preserve the biological parent's formal connection to the child, guardianship may be appropriate.

Kinship adoption permanently terminates the biological parents' rights and establishes you as the child's legal parent in every sense. The biological parents lose all parental rights, including visitation rights (absent a court-approved open adoption agreement), and the child inherits from you and your family. This is irreversible. For most kinship caregivers whose primary concern is permanent security for the child — particularly when parental rights have already been terminated or the birth parents are deceased or cannot be located — adoption is the stronger legal protection.

For a more detailed comparison, see guardianship vs adoption in New Hampshire.

Who Qualifies as a Kinship Adopter

RSA 170-B:2 defines "relative" for adoption purposes as a person within the second degree of kinship. This includes:

• Grandparents
• Aunts and uncles
• Siblings (adult siblings adopting a minor sibling)
• Step-grandparents and step-aunts/uncles in some circumstances

First cousins are typically not within the second degree and may not qualify for the kinship adoption track's procedural accommodations. If there is any question about your relationship to the child, consult an NH adoption attorney before you invest time in the kinship pathway.

The Home Study Waiver for Relatives

The most significant procedural benefit of kinship adoption in New Hampshire is the home study waiver. Under RSA 170-B:18, the Probate Court has discretion to waive or limit the mandatory suitability assessment (home study) for relative adoptions when:

• The child has lived with the relative for at least two years, AND
• The biological parents have voluntarily surrendered their parental rights

This does not mean the court will automatically waive it. The court retains discretion. But in practice, judges frequently grant waivers for grandparents and aunts or uncles who have been de facto primary caregivers for an extended period, particularly when the court record shows no child welfare concerns.

Background checks are not waived. Every adult in your household must still provide:

• Fingerprint-based NH State Police criminal record clearance
• FBI criminal record clearance
• Central registry check for child abuse and neglect findings in NH and any state of residence in the last seven years

If DCYF is involved in the case — for example, if the child was removed from the biological parents' home and placed with you as a kinship foster placement — DCYF will typically conduct the assessment at no charge.

The DCYF Kinship Foster-to-Adopt Pathway

If the child came to you through DCYF because of a protective removal, you may already be a licensed kinship foster parent. In that case, the pathway to adoption runs through the foster care system:

1. The child is placed with you as a licensed kinship foster home
2. DCYF works toward reunification with the biological parents (concurrent planning)
3. If reunification is not achievable, DCYF pursues Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) under RSA 170-C
4. Once TPR is granted, DCYF can pursue adoption finalization through the Probate Court
5. As the child's current foster placement, you have priority in the adoption decision

If you are a kinship foster parent and DCYF has been pursuing reunification, the timeline to potential adoption can be one to three years from initial placement. The uncertainty of that period — whether the biological parent will successfully complete their service plan — is the hardest part of the concurrent planning model.

Private Kinship Adoption: No DCYF Involvement

Some kinship adoptions happen entirely outside the DCYF system. A parent who voluntarily surrenders their child to a grandparent or sibling, or a parent who is deceased, means no child protective services case is active. In these situations, you proceed through a private kinship adoption.

Step 1: Secure consent or termination of parental rights If both biological parents are living, both must either consent (execute a formal surrender before a Probate Court judge) or have their rights involuntarily terminated. If one parent is deceased, provide the death certificate. If a parent is absent or refuses to consent, you may need to pursue involuntary TPR under RSA 170-C.

Step 2: Request or petition for home study waiver File your petition in the Probate Division of the Circuit Court in your county. At the time of filing (or in a pre-filing consultation), indicate that you are a qualifying relative and request that the court waive or limit the home study requirement under RSA 170-B:18.

Step 3: Complete required background checks Even with a home study waiver, criminal and registry clearances are required for all adults in the home.

Step 4: Compile the petition packet For a related minor child, use Form NHJB-3198-FP. Include:

• Petition for Adoption of Related Minor Child
• Certified long-form birth certificate
• Confidential Report of City/Town Clerk (Form VS-37)
• Executed surrenders or TPR orders
• Criminal and DHHS record releases
• Affidavit of Expenses (Form 1807)

Step 5: Attend the finalization hearing The hearing is usually brief for uncontested kinship adoptions. The judge reviews the petition, hears brief testimony about your relationship with the child and your commitment to their welfare, and signs the Final Decree.

Financial Assistance for Kinship Adopters

Many kinship adopters in New Hampshire are grandparents on fixed incomes who have already spent down savings caring for a child in crisis. Financial assistance options include:

DCYF Adoption Assistance Program: If the child was in DCYF custody and meets the special needs criteria (including being age 6 or older, having a documented disability, or being part of a sibling group), monthly adoption assistance payments and Medicaid may continue post-adoption. This must be arranged before finalization.

Federal Adoption Tax Credit: Up to $17,280 per child for qualifying adoption expenses. For kinship adoptions of special needs children from foster care, the full credit may be available regardless of actual expenses incurred.

Kinship Navigator Programs: DCYF and community partners offer kinship navigator services to help relatives access financial support, legal assistance, and community resources. Contact DCYF's kinship support line or your county's family resource center.

Getting Legal Help

Kinship adoption petitions are often more emotionally straightforward than contested adoptions — the family relationship is clear and the court is predisposed to look favorably on grandparents and aunts and uncles who have stepped up. But the paperwork and court procedures can trip up even capable, organized people.

The NH Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service (603-229-0002) can connect you with attorneys who specialize in NH adoption law. Some NH legal aid organizations also provide limited representation to low-income kinship caregivers.

For a complete guide to kinship adoption in New Hampshire — including the forms, the background check process, how to request a home study waiver, and how to navigate the DCYF foster-to-adopt track — the New Hampshire Adoption Process Guide covers all of this. Get the guide at /us/new-hampshire/adoption.

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