Nevada Postadoptive Contact Agreements

Part of my Nevada Adoption Overview.

By Ronald W. Brilliant, Attorney at Law · Licensed in Idaho, Nevada & California · Last reviewed: September 2026 against Nevada Revised Statutes chapters 127A through 127G and 128 (current through the 2025 legislative session)

In This TopicNevada AdoptionTopic 8 of 10: Postadoptive Contact

A postadoptive contact agreement is a written agreement that provides for contact after an adoption. Nevada law allows the parent or parents and the prospective adoptive parent or parents to make an enforceable agreement for contact between the child and the parent, between the adoptive parents and the parent, or any combination (NRS 127C.600(1)).

The same rules appear in three adoption chapters: chapter 127B for children placed with an agency which provides child welfare services, chapter 127C for agency and identified adoptions, and chapter 127D for close-family adoptions (NRS 127B.600 to 127B.650; NRS 127C.600 to 127C.650; NRS 127D.400 to 127D.450). The chapter 127C rules were formerly found in chapter 127 (NRS 127C.600 to 127C.650). The three sets of rules are nearly identical, and the differences are noted below. Unless noted, this page cites chapter 127C.

When an Agreement Is Enforceable

An agreement for postadoptive contact is enforceable only if all of these are true (NRS 127C.600(2); NRS 127B.600(2); NRS 127D.400(2)):

1. It is in writing and signed by the parties.
2. It is incorporated into (made part of) the order of adoption.
3. The parent signed it before the parent’s rights were terminated or voluntarily relinquished, or before the parent signed a specific consent to adoption or relinquishment.

For the rules on consents, relinquishments and termination, see Consent and Relinquishment.

Extra requirement for children from agency custody

Under chapter 127B, if the child was in the custody of an agency which provides child welfare services before the adoption, there is a fourth requirement. Either the agency must have determined that the agreement is in the child’s best interest, or the court must have made that determination after a hearing (NRS 127B.600(2)(d)). See Adoption from Foster Care.

What the Agreement Must Include

• Parent’s identity is optional. The agreement does not have to identify the parent. If the identity is left out, the agreement must name an agent who can receive service of legal papers for the parent (NRS 127C.600(3)).
• An address for service. Each parent or adoptive parent must include an address where they can be served with a petition about the agreement. Instead of that, a party may choose to be served by email, and then the email address must be included (NRS 127C.600(4)).
• If an address is missing. If a party refuses or fails to include an address, the court may, on the day it enters the order of adoption, order the child-placing agency to give the court that party’s contact information. The court then attaches the address to the agreement and makes it available to a party who wants to file a petition (NRS 127C.600(4)). In a chapter 127B adoption, the order goes to the agency which provides child welfare services (NRS 127B.600(4)).
• Address changes. If the address changes, notice of the change must be filed with the court clerk within 15 days (NRS 127C.600(5)).

Telling the Court About the Agreement

Each prospective adoptive parent who makes an agreement must tell the court handling the adoption about it as soon as practicable, and no later than the time the court enters the order of adoption (NRS 127C.610(1)). The agency’s director or authorized representative, and each attorney for a prospective adoptive parent, the child or the agency, must also tell the court as soon as practicable after learning of the agreement (NRS 127C.610(2)).

Before entering an order of adoption, the court must ask these people whether they know of an agreement (NRS 127C.620(1)). If the court finds that there is one, it must order the prospective adoptive parents to give it a copy and must incorporate the agreement into the order of adoption (NRS 127C.620(3)). Prospective adoptive parents may attend adoption hearings by telephone or remote appearance (NRS 127C.430(1)), and chapters 127C and 127D allow the court to address them that way for this inquiry (NRS 127C.620(2); NRS 127D.420(2)).

How Long the Court Keeps Jurisdiction

The court that enters an order of adoption with an agreement keeps jurisdiction to enforce, modify or terminate it until the child turns 18, the child becomes emancipated, or the agreement is terminated (NRS 127C.600(6)).

The agreement does not affect the adoptive parent’s rights as the child’s legal parent under NRS 127A.250 (NRS 127C.600(7)). Under that section, the adoptive parents become the child’s legal parents with all the rights and duties of parents (NRS 127A.250(1)). See Nevada Adoption Basics.

Who May Go Back to Court

Person	What they may ask the court to do	NRS
Parent	For good cause shown, prove the agreement exists and ask that it be incorporated into the order of adoption	127C.630(1)(a)
Parent	For good cause shown, enforce the agreement, if it meets the enforceability requirements, within the time limit	127C.630(1)(b)
Adoptive parent	Enforce the agreement, if it meets the enforceability requirements, within the time limit	127C.630(2)(a)
Adoptive parent	Modify or terminate the agreement	127C.630(2)(b); 127C.650

A petition must be filed under the same case number as the adoption. It must be served on each other party to the agreement by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, at the address in the agreement, or by email if a party chose that option (NRS 127C.630(3)(a), (b)). It is heard by the judge who issued the order of adoption if available; otherwise by a family court judge or, where there is no family court, any district judge in that judicial district (NRS 127C.630(3)(c)).

Looking at the court file

Adoption files are generally confidential (NRS 127A.230(2)). An adoptive parent who intends to file a petition to enforce, modify or terminate an agreement, and a parent who intends to file a petition to prove or enforce one, may inspect only the parts of the court file about the agreement (NRS 127A.230(3), (4)). Those parts must not include confidential information, such as information that would identify a parent whose identity is not in the agreement (NRS 127A.230(6)).

Deadline and Limits on Enforcement

Any action to enforce an agreement must be started no later than 120 days after the date the agreement was breached (NRS 127C.640(2); NRS 127B.640(2); NRS 127D.440(2)).

Failing to follow the agreement may not be used as a ground to (NRS 127C.640(1)):

• Set aside an order of adoption;
• Revoke, nullify or set aside a valid specific consent to adoption or relinquishment; or
• Award civil damages to a party to the agreement, except as provided in NRS 41.509.

Changing or Ending an Agreement

Only an adoptive parent may ask to modify or terminate an agreement, by petitioning the court that entered the order (NRS 127C.650(1)). The court may grant the request only if (NRS 127C.650(1)):

• The adoptive parent shows that a change in circumstances warrants it and that the contact is no longer in the child’s best interest; or
• Every party to the agreement consents.

When an adoptive parent files this kind of petition, the law presumes that modifying or ending the agreement is in the child’s best interest, and the court may consider the child’s wishes (NRS 127C.650(2)). A modification order may limit, restrict, condition or decrease contact. It may not expand or increase contact or place any new obligation on an adoptive parent (NRS 127C.650(3)). Chapters 127B and 127D contain the same rules (NRS 127B.650; NRS 127D.450).

Sibling Visitation Is a Separate Matter

Contact between an adopted child and siblings is handled by different rules. If a child in the custody of an agency which provides child welfare services is placed for adoption, the agency must give the adoption court a copy of any sibling visitation order issued under NRS 432B.580 (NRS 127B.780(1); NRS 127C.890(1)).

The court must include that order in the order of adoption unless an interested party petitions to exclude or amend it within 30 days after notice of the adoption petition is given to the child’s legal custodians or guardians who must receive it (NRS 127C.890(2)). The best interest of the child is the court’s sole consideration (NRS 127C.890(4)). A party may petition to enforce the visitation order at any time while it is in effect (NRS 127C.890(6)).

How I Can Help

I help birth parents and adoptive families draft postadoptive contact agreements that meet Nevada’s requirements, make sure the agreement is signed at the right time and brought to the court’s attention, and handle petitions to prove, enforce, modify or terminate an agreement. Request a consultation to discuss your situation.

This page provides general information about Nevada adoption law, based on the Nevada Revised Statutes as currently revised, and is not legal advice. Court rules, regulations, federal law, and case law also affect adoptions. Every adoption is different; consult an attorney about your situation. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.