Bill description: HB 435 would require the consent of an individual and their spouse (if any) for an adult adoption.

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Analyst's Note:

Adult adoption is a method of forming legally binding familial relations between two or more consenting adults. It is important that people who share legal obligations, such as spouses, consult each other in legal matters, including adoption. But there are times when such a consultation is neither possible nor desirable.

There are certain individuals, like domestic violence survivors, who cannot divorce their abusive spouse or even reach out to them, for the sake of their own safety. It is not the government’s place to deprive individuals like these, who find a family they have long been deprived of, from the adult adoption process simply because they cannot get the consent of their spouse.

It would be worthwhile to consider tightening the language in the proposed bill, or removing the provision of spousal consent altogether, to ensure certain people are not denied the opportunity for adult adoption.