Code of Alabama
Title 26 - Infants and Incompetents.
Chapter 10A - Alabama Adoption Code.

Section 26-10A-1 - Short Title. - This chapter shall be known as and may be cited...

Section 26-10A-2 - Definitions. - The following words and phrases shall have the following meaning...

Section 26-10A-3 - Jurisdiction. - The probate court shall have original jurisdiction over proceedings brought...

Section 26-10A-4 - Venue. - All petitions may be filed in the probate court in...

Section 26-10A-5 - Who May Adopt. - (a) Any adult person or husband and wife jointly who...

Section 26-10A-6 - Who May Be Adopted. - The following persons may be adopted: (1) A minor. (2)...

Section 26-10A-7 - Persons Whose Consents or Relinquishment Are Required. - (a) Consent to the petitioner's adoption or relinquishment for adoption...

Section 26-10A-8 - Consent or Relinquishment by a Minor Parent. - (a) Prior to a minor parent giving consent a guardian...

Section 26-10A-9 - Implied Consent or Relinquishment. - (a) A consent or relinquishment required by Section 26-10A-7 may...

Section 26-10A-10 - Persons Whose Consents or Relinquishments Are Not Required. - Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 26-10A-7, the consent or relinquishment...

Section 26-10A-11 - Consent or Relinquishment. - (a) A consent or relinquishment shall be in writing, signed...

Section 26-10A-12 - Persons Who May Take Consent or Relinquishments; Forms. - (a) A consent of the natural mother taken prior to...

Section 26-10A-13 - Time of Consent or Relinquishment; Filing With Court. - (a) A consent or relinquishment may be taken at any...

Section 26-10A-14 - Withdrawal of Consent or Relinquishment. - (a) The consent or relinquishment, once signed or confirmed, may...

Section 26-10A-15 - Surrender of Custody of Minor Under Age of Majority. - (a) No health facility shall surrender the physical custody of...

Section 26-10A-16 - Petition. - (a) A petition for adoption shall be filed with the...

Section 26-10A-17 - Notice of Petition. - (a) Unless service has been previously waived, notice of pendency...

Section 26-10A-18 - Custody Pending Final Decree. - Once a petitioner has received the adoptee into his or...

Section 26-10A-19 - Investigation. - (a) A pre-placement investigation shall be made to determine the...

Section 26-10A-20 - Removal of Adoptee From County. - After the petitioner has received the adoptee into his or...

Section 26-10A-21 - Related Proceedings. - If, at any time during the pendency of the adoption...

Section 26-10A-22 - Attorney Participation and Appointment of Attorney for the Adoptee or Other Party. - (a) In making adoption arrangements, potential adopting parents and birth...

Section 26-10A-23 - Fees and Charges. - (a) No person, organization, group, agency, or any legal entity...

Section 26-10A-24 - Contested Hearing. - (a) Whenever a motion contesting the adoption is filed, the...

Section 26-10A-25 - Final Decree; Dispositional Hearing. - (a) When the pre-placement investigation has been completed and approved...

Section 26-10A-26 - Appeals. - (a) Appeals from any final decree of adoption shall be...

Section 26-10A-27 - Stepparent Adoptions. - Any person may adopt his or her spouse's child according...

Section 26-10A-28 - Adoption by Other Relatives. - A grandfather, a grandmother, great-grandfather, great-grandmother, great-uncle, great-aunt, a brother,...

Section 26-10A-29 - Name and Status of Adoptee. - (a) The adoptee shall take the name designated by the...

Section 26-10A-30 - Grandparent Visitation. - Post-adoption visitation rights for the natural grandparents of the adoptee...

Section 26-10A-31 - Confidentiality of Records, Hearing; Parties. - (a) After the petition is filed and prior to the...

Section 26-10A-32 - Birth Certificates. - (a) Within 10 days of the final decree being entered...

Section 26-10A-33 - Crime to Place Children for Adoption. - Only a parent, a parent of a deceased parent, or...

Section 26-10A-34 - Payments to Parent for Placing Minor for Adoption; Maternity Expenses; Receipt of Financial Benefits by Father. - (a) It shall be a Class A misdemeanor for any...

Section 26-10A-35 - Bringing Child Into State for Adoption Purposes. - Children may be brought into Alabama for purposes of adoption...

Section 26-10A-36 - Advertisement as to Adoption by Persons, Organizations, etc., Not Licensed by Department of Human Resources. - It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, organizations,...

Section 26-10A-37 - Rules of Procedure and Rules of Evidence. - The Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules of Evidence...

Section 26-10A-38 - Application to Existing Adoptions. - Final orders of adoptions entered prior to January 1, 1991,...