Adoption in Colorado

The Kinds of Adoption We Handle

Most of the adoptions Colorado families ask us about fall into three groups. Each has its own rules under the Colorado Children's Code, and each ends the same way, with a decree that makes you the child's legal parent for life.

Stepparent adoption

A stepparent adopts their spouse's child. It is one of the most common adoptions in Colorado. It requires that the child be legally available for adoption, which usually means the other birth parent consents, has passed away, has had parental rights ended by a court, or has abandoned the child or failed without cause to provide reasonable support for a year or more. C.R.S. 19-5-203 sets out these paths.

Kinship adoption

A close relative adopts a child who has already been living in their home. Under C.R.S. 19-5-203, the relative must be a grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, half sibling, or first cousin, must have had physical custody of the child for at least one year, and the child cannot be part of a pending dependency and neglect case. Grandparents raising grandchildren often use this path to make a stable arrangement permanent.

Second-parent adoption

When a child has one legal parent, that parent can ask the court to let a chosen second adult adopt without the first parent giving up any rights. Colorado recognizes this by statute at C.R.S. 19-5-203(1)(d.5). It is often used by unmarried couples and by LGBTQ families who want both parents' names secured by a court decree, which every state must honor.

The other kinds of adoption Colorado recognizes

Beyond those three, Colorado law provides several more paths:

• Custodial adoption. A court-appointed legal custodian or guardian who has had the child for at least a year petitions to adopt. It also requires showing that the birth parents abandoned the child or failed without cause to support the child for a year or more.
• Agency adoption. Birth parents relinquish their rights through the court, and a licensed child placement agency approves the adoptive family and consents to the adoption.
• County and foster care adoption. Children in county custody are adopted, most often by their foster parents, after parental rights end. Adoption assistance, including a monthly subsidy and Medicaid, is available for eligible children.
• Designated adoption. Birth parents choose the adoptive family by name, and the placement is still processed through a county department or licensed agency. Colorado does not allow fully independent placements outside those channels.
• Confirmatory adoption. A streamlined path under Marlo's Law for a child conceived through assisted reproduction: no home study, no fingerprint checks, and no in-person hearing, with a decree required within 30 days of a complete petition. It is often faster than a traditional second-parent adoption.
• Adult adoption. An adult can be adopted with their written consent through a short petition in juvenile court, which creates inheritance rights. An adult under 21 can sometimes instead be adopted as a child under the Children's Code, which creates the fuller parent and child relationship.
• International validation and readoption. A completed foreign adoption can be validated by a Colorado court so it carries the same effect as a Colorado decree, and a foreign process that was not finalized abroad can be completed here through readoption.
• Adoption of an orphaned child. When both parents have died, the child's court-appointed guardian can consent to the adoption.

If your situation does not fit neatly into any box, we can help you figure out which path applies.

Consent and Termination: How a Child Becomes Available

Before any Colorado court can grant an adoption, the child must be legally free for it. That is the heart of C.R.S. 19-5-203, and it is where most of the legal work happens.

• Consent. A birth parent can consent in writing. In a stepparent or second-parent case, the consenting parent keeps their rights and simply agrees to share parenthood. A parent who is giving up their rights entirely goes through relinquishment, a court process under C.R.S. 19-5-103 that includes counseling and a judge's order. Once the court enters that order, it is very difficult to undo.
• The child's own consent. If the child is 12 or older, Colorado requires the child's written consent too. Judges take this seriously, and so do we. An older child should understand what is happening and want it.
• Termination without consent. If the other birth parent will not agree, the law allows termination of their rights in a stepparent or kinship case on two main grounds: abandonment of the child for one year or more, or failure without cause to provide reasonable support for one year or more. These grounds must be proven by clear and convincing evidence, which means the judge must be firmly persuaded, a higher bar than in most civil cases.

Contested terminations are emotionally heavy. The other parent has a constitutional right to notice and a chance to be heard, and courts do not end a parent's rights lightly. We prepare these cases carefully, with records of missed support, absence, and the child's life in your home, so the judge sees the full picture.

Home Studies and Background Checks

Colorado wants to know that an adoptive home is safe. What that means in practice depends on the type of adoption.

• Fingerprint background checks. In stepparent, kinship, custodial, and second-parent adoptions, the adopting adult must complete fingerprint-based criminal history checks through both the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. The court forms currently require these checks to be run within the 90 days before the petition is filed and attached to it.
• The Trails check. The adopting adult must also obtain a check of Colorado's child abuse and neglect records, known as a Trails check, through the Colorado Department of Human Services.
• Disclosure of certain convictions. Under C.R.S. 19-5-208, the petition must tell the court about any conviction for offenses such as child abuse, domestic violence, crimes against children, and certain violent felonies. Some history does not automatically end an adoption, but hiding it can.
• Home studies. A home study, also called a family assessment, is a report by a trained evaluator about your household. Second-parent adoptions require one under C.R.S. 19-5-208, prepared to the standards in C.R.S. 19-5-207.5, though a recent study from a prior adoption can sometimes be reused if the second parent was included in it. In kinship and custodial cases, the court can waive the home study on request, and judges often do when the child has long been settled in the home. In stepparent cases a study is not typically ordered, but the judge always has the final say.

None of this should scare you off. For most families these steps are paperwork, not obstacles, and we walk you through every one of them.

Timelines and the Finalization Hearing

How long an adoption takes depends mostly on whether anyone contests it and how quickly the background pieces come together.

• Stepparent, kinship, and custodial adoptions move fastest. Under C.R.S. 19-5-210, the court holds the hearing on these petitions as soon as possible. With consents signed and checks in hand, many families finish in a few months.
• Other adoptions generally cannot be finalized until the child has lived in the adoptive home for at least 182 days, unless the court shortens that period for good cause.
• Contested cases take longer, because the court must first resolve the termination of the other parent's rights, with notice, service, and often a separate hearing.

The finalization hearing itself is usually the happiest day on a courtroom calendar. The judge confirms that every requirement is met and that the adoption serves the child's best interests, then signs the final decree. Bring the family. Photos with the judge are a Colorado tradition.

The decree has real weight. It creates a full legal parent-child relationship, allows a new birth certificate to issue, and under C.R.S. 19-5-214 it generally cannot be attacked for procedural defects more than 91 days after it enters. Even when a decree is challenged, the court must uphold it unless clear and convincing evidence shows the adoption is not in the child's best interests. In short, once it is done, it is done.