Nevada Adoption Basics: Who May Adopt, the Process and Its Effects

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 1 of 10: Adoption Basics

Nevada defines adoption as a legally recognized procedure that creates a parent-child relationship (NRS 127A.015). The general rules for Nevada adoptions are in chapter 127A of the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS). Its definitions apply throughout chapters 127A to 127E, and its rules on records, court procedure, licensing and unlawful acts apply to every type of adoption governed by chapters 127B, 127C, 127D and 127E (NRS 127A.010, 127A.150).

Many step-by-step rules, such as who may petition and what the petition must say, appear in each type-specific chapter. This page uses chapter 127C (agency and identified adoptions) as the main example and notes where other chapters differ. For an overview of all the chapters, see the Nevada Adoption overview.

Types of Adoption in Nevada

For these statutes, a child is a person under 18 and an adult is a person at least 18 years old (NRS 127A.060, 128.0124, 127A.025). Nevada law separates adoptions into types: adoption of a child in the custody of an agency which provides child welfare services (NRS 127B.080), agency adoptions and identified adoptions (NRS 127A.035, 127A.100), close-family adoptions (NRS 127A.075), confirmatory adoptions and readoptions (NRS 127A.080, 127A.125), and adult adoptions (NRS 127A.030). The topic overview explains each type, and each has its own page, such as Agency and Identified Adoptions and Close-Family Adoptions.

Who May Adopt a Child

A child may be adopted by one or more adults (NRS 127C.210(1)(a)). A person adopting a child must be at least 10 years older than the person adopted (NRS 127B.210(1)(b), 127C.210(1)(b), 127D.110(1)(b)).

The court may approve the adoption without regard to the ages of the child and the adoptive parents if the adoptive parent is a relative within the third degree of consanguinity and the court is satisfied the adoption is in the child’s best interest (NRS 127B.210(2), 127C.210(2)). In a close-family adoption, the court may do so whenever it is satisfied the adoption is in the child’s best interest (NRS 127D.110(2)).

A married person who is not lawfully separated may not adopt a child without the agreement of his or her spouse, if the spouse is capable of agreeing (NRS 127C.220(2)). The court may dispense with that requirement if the spouse cannot be located after a diligent search or lacks the capacity to agree (NRS 127C.220(5)).

A spouse’s agreement alone does not make the spouse a parent. The spouse gains parental rights and responsibilities only if the spouse files a writing with the court specifically agreeing to adopt and to establish parental rights and responsibilities, and is named as an adoptive parent in the order (NRS 127C.220(3)). Under chapter 127C, the spouse’s home must also be found suitable by the post-placement investigation and the home study (NRS 127C.220(4)).

Each prospective adoptive parent, and each parent who agrees to the adoption and wants to keep his or her parental rights, must be a joint petitioner (NRS 127C.220(1), 127D.120(1)). The court may determine that a child has a legal relationship with more than two persons who petition to adopt the child (NRS 127C.220(6)).

A child-placing agency may not find a home unsuitable solely because a prospective adoptive parent is deaf, is blind, has another physical disability, or holds a valid registry identification card for medical cannabis (NRS 127C.870(3), 127A.095). In a chapter 127B adoption, the court may not deny a petition solely for those reasons (NRS 127B.390(3)).

Who May Be Adopted

If the child is over the age of 14, the child must agree to the adoption (NRS 127B.210(1)(c), 127C.210(1)(c), 127D.110(1)(c)). The same petitioners may ask to adopt two or more children in one petition if the children are siblings (NRS 127A.210).

Adults may be adopted too. Any adult may adopt another adult who is at least 10 years younger, except his or her own spouse, through a written agreement of adoption approved by the district court in the county where either the adopting person or the person adopted lives (NRS 127C.700(1)-(2)).

Which Court Hears the Case

Nevada’s district courts have original jurisdiction in adoption proceedings, except as provided in NRS 125E.270 (NRS 127A.200). A child for whom Nevada is the home state on the date the case begins, or was the home state within 6 months before, may be adopted only by order of a Nevada district court, subject to exceptions in the Indian child provisions (NRS 127C.200(1)).

The home state is the state where the child lived for at least 6 consecutive months immediately before the case began, counting temporary absences. For a child younger than 6 months, it is the state where the child has lived since birth (NRS 127C.200(2)). All petitions, reports and orders in an adoption case are titled only in the names of the adopting parties (NRS 127A.220).

The Petition for Adoption

Under chapter 127C, a petition may be filed any time after the child is placed with the petitioners, and it is filed with the clerk of the court (NRS 127C.380(1), 127C.390(1)). Under chapter 127B, it may be filed once the child is legally free for adoption and the agency agrees (NRS 127B.330(1)). The petition must state, in substance (NRS 127C.380(2)):

• The full names and ages of the petitioners, the age of the child, and the date the child was placed with them.
• That the petitioners want a parent-child relationship established, and any new name they want for the child.
• That the petitioners are fit and proper persons to have care and custody of the child and are financially able to provide for the child.
• That the law on termination of parental rights, specific consent to adoption or relinquishment has been fully complied with as to all parents.
• Whether the petitioners have reason to know the child is an Indian child.
• That there are no known signs the child is currently experiencing victimization from human trafficking, exploitation or abuse.
• Whether there is a postadoptive contact agreement, and whether there is an order for visitation by a sibling or other relative.

The petitioners and their attorney must also file an affidavit listing all fees, donations and expenses paid in the adoption. It is due within 15 days after the petition is filed or 5 months after the child is placed in their home, whichever is later (NRS 127C.410). Notice of the petition must go to every legal custodian or guardian of the child who is not a parent (NRS 127C.400).

Home Studies and Investigations

A home study is an investigation of the prospective adoptive parents before placement to decide whether their home is suitable (NRS 127C.020). A child must not be placed in an adoptive home until an approved home study is obtained and a valid consent or relinquishment is signed, or a court order terminates the parents’ rights (NRS 127C.820).

The child-placing agency must complete the home study within 60 days after it receives confirmation of the parents’ intent to place the child and a completed application. The study covers the medical, mental, financial and moral backgrounds of the prospective adoptive parents (NRS 127C.840(1)). The prospective adoptive parents must submit a complete set of fingerprints, which are forwarded to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History for submission to the FBI, and must pay the fingerprinting fees (NRS 127C.850).

Unless the court waives it, a child-placing agency designated by the court conducts a post-placement investigation. It verifies the petition, investigates the child’s condition, including whether the child is an Indian child, and looks into whether the adoptive parents are suitable (NRS 127C.390(2)-(3)). Its written report must include a specific recommendation for or against the adoption (NRS 127C.390(4)).

The report goes to the judge in confidence and is not a public record. If it recommends against the adoption, the judge must give the petitioner a chance to rebut it before denying the petition (NRS 127C.420). If the court is dissatisfied with the report, it may order an independent investigation, and its costs may be charged to the petitioner (NRS 127C.390(5)).

The Hearing and the Order of Adoption

The prospective adoptive parents, the child, the agency’s representative and counsel may attend hearings by telephone or other remote means instead of in person. The court may excuse the child from attending for good cause (NRS 127C.430).

If the court finds that the child’s best interest warrants it, the court enters an order declaring that the child is the child of the petitioners, and it may change the child’s name (NRS 127C.440(1)). The best interest of the child is the legal standard that makes every decision in the adoption process prioritize the child’s stability, safety and permanency (NRS 127A.050). The court must give strong consideration to the emotional bond between the child and the prospective adoptive parent (NRS 127C.440(1)).

Except as otherwise provided, an order of adoption may not be made until 6 months after the child is placed with the petitioners (NRS 127C.440(2)). Every order must include findings on whether the child is an Indian child and on the inquiry made to find out (NRS 127C.450(1)).

An order of adoption and a decree of adoption are both final judgments (NRS 127A.240). Anyone against whom an order is made, or who is affected by it, may appeal in the same manner as in other civil cases (NRS 127A.260). After the order, the court directs the petitioner or the petitioner’s attorney to prepare a report of adoption for the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, or the equivalent office in the state that issued the birth certificate, which may provide information for a new birth certificate (NRS 127C.480(1)).

Legal Effect of an Adoption

When the order of adoption is entered, the child becomes the legal child of the adoptive parents, with all the rights and duties of parent and child (NRS 127A.250(1)). The effects on inheritance and on the prior parents are set out in NRS 127A.250:

• The child inherits from the adoptive parents and their relatives as though the child were their biological child (NRS 127A.250(2)).
• If the child dies without a will, the adoptive parents and their relatives inherit the child’s estate as if they were the child’s biological parents and relatives (NRS 127A.250(2)).
• A parent who signed a specific consent or relinquishment, or whose rights were terminated, is relieved of all parental responsibilities once the order is entered. That parent has no rights over the child or the child’s property (NRS 127A.250(3)(a)).
• The child owes that parent no legal duty and may not inherit from that parent or that parent’s relatives (NRS 127A.250(3)(b)).
• The adoption does not change the relationship between the child and a parent who is a petitioner and whose rights have not been terminated (NRS 127A.250(4)).

After an adoption is granted, a placing parent may not bring an action to set it aside unless a court has first, in a separate action, set aside the consent or relinquishment or reversed the termination order. There is also a presumption that staying in the adoptive home is in the child’s best interest (NRS 127C.500).

Confidential Hearings and Records

Except as provided in NRS 239.0115, adoption hearings are confidential and held in closed court, and only the people listed in the statute may attend unless the court orders otherwise (NRS 127A.230(1)).

The court’s adoption files are not open to inspection except by court order on a petition giving reasons, when a parent and child are eligible for information from the State Register for Adoptions, or in limited cases involving postadoptive contact agreements and sibling visitation orders (NRS 127A.230(2)-(6)). See Postadoptive Contact Agreements.

The Division of Child and Family Services keeps the State Register for Adoptions to help identify adults who were adopted and their relatives within the third degree of consanguinity (NRS 127A.160(1), 127A.085). Names are submitted voluntarily, and a person may have his or her name withdrawn by a written request (NRS 127A.160(2)). The Division may release information between an adopted person and a relative if both are in the Register and either the parent gives written consent or the Division finds extenuating circumstances (NRS 127A.160(3)-(4)). An adopted person may limit which categories of relatives may receive information (NRS 127A.160(5)).

Unlawful Acts in Adoption

Nevada limits who may place children and who may be paid in connection with an adoption.

• License required. No person or entity may place or arrange the placement of a child for adoption without a child-placing agency license from the Division, including a parent’s agents, physicians and attorneys. There are exceptions for certain placements by a parent or guardian, for agencies which provide child welfare services, and for sharing information about an adoption when no payment is made (NRS 127A.300).
• Payment for placing a child. Asking for or receiving anything of value for placing a child without a license is a category D felony, with listed exceptions. The parents and adopting parents are not accomplices (NRS 127A.410, 127A.420).
• Attorneys. An attorney may not be paid for finding children for adoption or finding parents to adopt, but may receive reasonable compensation for legal services. A violation is a misdemeanor (NRS 127A.400).
• Advertising. Advertising that a child is available or sought for adoption is unlawful, except as the statute allows. A licensed child-placing agency may advertise if it includes its license information. A violation is a category E felony (NRS 127A.430).
• Paying a parent. Paying or offering anything of value to a parent in return for placing a child, signing a consent or relinquishment, or cooperating in the adoption is a category D felony. Paying birth-related medical and living expenses as charity is allowed if it is not contingent on the adoption, and the section does not apply to a lawful gestational carrier contract (NRS 127C.900).
• Taking expenses without intending to consent. Receiving payment of birth-related expenses from a prospective adoptive parent with the intent of not consenting to or completing the adoption is a gross misdemeanor (NRS 127C.900(2), (6)(b)).

How I Can Help

I help adoptive families and birth parents understand which Nevada adoption chapter applies and what it requires. I prepare petitions, consents and fee affidavits, coordinate with the agency doing the home study and investigation, and represent clients at the hearing through the order of adoption. 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.