ADOPTION OF A MINOR CHILD
Nevada is an "Agency State," which means that only a licensed child-placing agency may facilitate an adoption or receive any compensation for assisting with an adoption. Nevada's law allows a parent, guardian, or licensed child-placing agency to place or arrange the placement of any child for adoption.
Consent to adoption in Nevada must be given by
1) Both parents, if living;
2) The living parent of the child if the other parent has died; or
3) The child's legal court-appointed guardian.
The Birth Mother can consent to the adoption 72 hours after the child's birth. A Birth Father who is not married to the Birth Mother may consent to the adoption before the child is born (or after the child is born). Once the Birth Mother and/or Birth Father relinquish their parental rights and consent to the adoption, consent is irrevocable, permanent, and cannot be set aside, changed, or modified. Consent to adoption is not required of a parent whose parental rights have been terminated or who has been declared insane for 2 years by the court, and there is proof that the insanity is incurable.
Nevada permits birth parents and prospective adoptive parents to enter into agreements for post-adoptive contact through a Post-Adoptive Contact Agreement ("PACA"). Communication in a PACA will vary, depending on what the birth family and the adoptive family are comfortable with. Communication may include: Written letters, Photos, Emails, Phone calls, In-person visits, etc. The frequency of the communication is also specific in a PACA. The purpose of a PACA is to have the best interest of the child at heart when the birth parents and adoptive parents agree to an open or semi-open adoption. By agreeing to a PACA, both sides are agreeing to maintain the frequency and type of contact or communication over the next several years as the child grows up.
Nevada has a Nevada Adoption Reunion Registry, which provides information necessary for birth parents, adopted children, and eligible relatives who wish to conduct a search for each other. The Registry will contain information about adoptions handled in Nevada whose birth parent(s) has relinquished their child in Nevada, either to the Nevada State Division of Child and Family Services or to a private adoption agency in Nevada. The Registry will also have information if the adoptive home study was conducted in Nevada or if the adoption was finalized in Nevada. The Registry is a mutual consent registry; both parties must apply in order for there to be a match. A match can only occur between parties with a notarized application on file.
Any adult person or any two (2) persons married to each other may petition to adopt a child. A petition for adoption of a child may be filed at any time after the child has lived in the home of the person(s) wishing to adopt the child for 30 days. The person adopting the child must be at least ten (10) years older than the child adopted, and the consent of the child, if the child is over the age of 14 years, is necessary for its adoption. If the child sought to be adopted is Native American, then the Indian Child Welfare Act governs. An "Agency" Adoption (vs. relative adoption) may not be finalized until the child has been in the prospective adoptive parents' care for at least 6 months. Once per month for six (6) months, the agency will conduct home visits in the prospective parents' home so that it may make a specific recommendation for or against approval of the Petition for Adoption.
