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Yes: 61 • No: 1
NevadaAB22783rd Regular Session (2025)HouseWALLET
AN ACT relating to adoption; repealing, reenacting, revising, reorganizing and establishing certain provisions relating to the adoption of children through agency adoptions, identified adoptions, close-family adoptions, confirmatory adoptions, readoptions and adoptions of children placed in the custody of agencies which provide child welfare services under certain circumstances; revising various provisions relating to the adoption of adults; requiring the Division of Child and Family Services of the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt various regulations; directing the Legislative Counsel to make various organizational changes concerning the placement of certain compacts for adoption in the Nevada Revised Statutes; providing penalties; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Sponsored By: Brittney M. Miller (Democratic)
Signed by Governor
BDR 11-928
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42 provisions identified: 24 benefits, 3 costs, 15 mixed.
Who cares for a child before adoption
If a child is ordered or relinquished to a child‑welfare agency, the agency has custody and control until the court grants the adoption. If you have legal custody when a parent signs a specific consent, you must support and care for the child until the court holds the adoption hearing. A child‑welfare agency may accept a specific consent or a relinquishment.
Agency standards, sibling priority, and enforcement
The Division sets minimum rules for child‑placing agencies and, with local agencies, adopts placement procedures. Natural parents and prospective adoptive parents may agree on how much identifying information to share. Agencies must try to place siblings together when practicable. An agency can ask a court to stop an unlawful placement and, within six months of a placement, the court may order removal if that is best for the child.
More info for birth and adoptive parents
Before a placing parent in an identified adoption signs, the agency must explain the process, counseling, and options. The agency collects multi‑generation family and medical history, and, if the child is born, the child's medical and developmental history; the parent may read the home study before signing. The agency keeps a case file. Prospective adoptive parents receive a non‑identifying report with medical and social history and, if the child has special needs, written info on subsidies and services; the agency gets written confirmation of receipt.
Stronger protections for Indian child adoptions
When a child is taken into custody or a relinquishment is accepted, agencies must check if the child may be an Indian child and report that to the court; the Division sets uniform inquiry rules. If the child is a tribal ward, lives on a reservation, or is domiciled there, the agency must notify the tribe in writing. Adoption orders must include detailed findings and facts under the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the court must send required papers to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. If a tribe or the U.S. Secretary of the Interior asks, the court must give adoption records within 14 days. A parent may ask the court to vacate an Indian‑child adoption within two years if consent was obtained by fraud or duress; if vacated, the court restores rights, sets a custody plan, and must notify the parents, prior Indian custodian, tribe, and agency.
Stronger protections for Indian child adoptions
Courts accept a tribe’s customary adoption order if it is a good permanent plan and in the child’s best interest. The court then enters a state adoption order without a new petition or a clerk’s fee. For an Indian child, parents may consent no sooner than 10 days after birth, in person at court, and may withdraw consent any time before the order. Petitioners must notify tribes, and the agency files an ICWA report within 90 days. Courts make written ICWA findings and send records to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Division sets what documents prove ICWA steps, courts may publish forms and training, agencies share a child’s background report with the tribe, and the Division defines which violent crimes block certain placements.
Paying for adoption consent is illegal
It is a crime to pay or offer payment to get a child placed, to get a consent to adoption, or to get cooperation in an adoption. It is also a crime to accept medical or birth‑expense payments from a prospective adoptive parent if you intend not to consent or finish the adoption. Charitable help for medical and living needs is allowed if it is not tied to consent or placement. Paying for placement is a category D felony. Taking prohibited medical payments is a gross misdemeanor.
Adoptions are harder to undo
After the court grants an adoption, a placing parent cannot set it aside unless a separate court already voided their consent or reversed termination of rights. The law presumes it is best for the child to stay with the adoptive parents. If a post‑adoption contact agreement is broken, you cannot use that to undo the adoption or revoke a valid consent. To enforce a contact agreement, you must file in court within 120 days after the breach.
Stronger rules for Indian child cases
Courts and agencies must make a good‑faith inquiry to learn if a child is an Indian child. They must ask the family, others who may know, and any identified tribes, and document the work. Judges must make written findings, keep asking early in hearings, and order more inquiry when needed. In these cases, judges must consult with the child’s tribe and weigh safety, tribal placement rules, tribal relationships, and the tribe’s ability to remain intact.
More help for special-needs adoptions
If a child under 18 in agency custody is found to have special needs, the agency schedules needed evaluations and can consent to the adoption. The agency must tell you about grants and help you apply. Help can cover attorney fees, basic support, and costs tied to pre‑existing medical or mental conditions. Grants are in a written agreement, reviewed each year, and can end when the child turns 18 (or 19 if still in school), becomes self‑supporting, is emancipated, or dies. When the agency consents to a special‑needs adoption, the court waives all court costs.
DCFS sets uniform child welfare rules
The Division of Child and Family Services sets statewide standards for child welfare work. Rules cover prevention, reporting abuse or neglect, legal rights, emergency shelter, missing children, runaways, and a plain‑language pamphlet in English and other languages. The Division also sets standards for child‑placing agencies and how they share identifying information by mutual agreement. For reunification, agencies must gather needed information and, if needed, make an in‑home safety plan. Courts must review these efforts case by case.
Adoption filings and court reports
You can file an adoption petition once the child is legally free and the child‑welfare agency agrees. The petition must include key facts about you, the child, consents or terminations, any post‑adoption contact, and any signs of trafficking or abuse. Unless waived, the agency sends a post‑placement report to the judge at least 7 days before the hearing; the report is confidential and you can rebut an adverse recommendation. After the order, you must send a copy to the state child‑welfare division within 7 days and file the State Registrar’s adoption report within 30 days. After the court grants the petition, the law presumes staying in the adoptive home is best for the child.
Clear rules for consent and surrender
Each living parent whose rights are not ended, and any court‑appointed guardian, must give specific written consent for an adoption unless the law says consent is not required. A minor parent can sign without their own parents and the consent stays valid after age 18; it can be voided only for fraud, duress, or undue influence within 30 days. A consent or relinquishment must identify the child, be acknowledged, and be witnessed as the law requires, including rules for out‑of‑state remote witnessing. If a court later finds the placing parent still has legal rights, the agency must declare the relinquishment void, withdraw any termination case, and the parent's rights are restored. Before a final adoption order, adoptive petitioners can withdraw and surrender the placement by notarized notice to all parties; the child is returned to the placing parent or given back to an agency.
Clearer rules for adoption consents
A birth parent’s consent signed before birth or within 72 hours after birth is invalid. A minor parent may consent without their own parents, and a signed specific consent is generally not revocable by that parent. A consent becomes invalid if no adoption petition is filed within 18 months or not all parents have consented or had rights ended in that time; fraud or duress must be raised within 30 days. No separate consent is needed if a parent’s rights were ended by a court, the parent has died, or an out‑of‑state birth‑father registry ended rights. Witnesses may use sworn affidavits attached to the consent or relinquishment, and the court must accept them like live testimony. The law also defines key terms like parent, relinquishment, specific consent, and when adoptive placement occurs.
Enforceable post‑adoption contact agreements
Natural and adoptive parents can sign a written post‑adoption contact agreement; the court can enforce it if it is included in the adoption order. A natural parent can withhold identity by naming an agent for service; parties must keep a service address or email current. Prospective adoptive parents, agencies, and attorneys must tell the court about any such agreement, and the judge must ask about it before entering the order. Either side can ask the same court to prove, enforce, modify, or end the agreement. You must file any enforcement action within 120 days after a breach.
Enforceable post‑adoption contact rules
A post‑adoption contact agreement is enforceable only if it is written, signed, and put into the adoption order. Before finalizing, the judge asks if an agreement exists and, if so, adds it to the order. You can name an agent for legal notices and must file any new address within 15 days. A parent or adoptive parent can ask the same court to prove, add, or enforce the agreement; you must file within 120 days after a breach. Only an adoptive parent can ask to change or end it, and the court can only reduce contact, not add new duties.
Home studies and safer placements for adoptions
The agency must finish a home study within 60 days after it gets the parent’s intent and a complete application. A child cannot be placed until the agency gets written notice and the home study is complete; in identified adoptions, the placing parent can review a redacted home study. While checks are pending, the child stays with the parent or with the agency in a licensed foster home; placement moves forward only if the home is approved. Prospective adoptive parents must submit fingerprints for state and FBI checks and pay the fingerprinting fees. Before placement, the agency must give a pre‑adoption report with available medical and history information and a list of special‑needs supports.
Stronger protections in Indian child adoptions
For an Indian child, a parent can consent no sooner than 10 days after birth, after the court explains rights, and can withdraw consent any time before the adoption order. Adoption petitioners must make a good‑faith Indian‑child inquiry and, within 30 days, mail notice to each possible tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs when needed. Courts accept tribal home studies that include federal background checks and meet safety and cultural standards. Adoption orders must include Indian‑child findings and the court sends required records to the Bureau of Indian Affairs; if a tribe or the U.S. Interior Secretary asks, the court provides the case records within 14 days. A consenting parent has up to 2 years after the order to ask the court to vacate the adoption for fraud or duress; if granted, the court restores parental rights and makes a custody plan. When an Indian‑child adoption is vacated, the court mails notice to former parents, prior custodians, the tribe, and the agency; former parents can waive and later revoke notice and, in some cases, move to regain custody.
Adoption fees capped; special needs waived
Agencies or counties must charge reasonable fees for adoption services, but fees cannot be higher than usual local agency rates and cannot differ for identified adoptions. Agencies may waive or lower fees if you cannot pay or the child’s needs require it. If the child has special needs, agencies cannot charge any adoption service fees, and the court caps the adoption filing fee at no more than $1 when an agency consents. Certain post‑adoption contact petitions also cost no more than $1. Fingerprinting fees are usually paid by the adoptive parent, but the Division (small counties) or county (large counties) may shift payment to the agency by rule. Fee money must be kept and used only for adoption or post‑adoption services.
Adoption hearings: reports and timing
The agency must verify the petition, check the child’s condition (including Indian child status), and report in writing. The court keeps the report confidential and must let you respond if the recommendation is negative. Courts usually wait at least six months after placement to enter an adoption order and must weigh the child’s emotional bond. You may attend hearings by phone or online. If the court orders an independent investigation, it may make the petitioner pay for it.
Clear consent timing and revocation rules
A birth parent’s consent signed before birth or within 72 hours after birth is not valid. An unmarried non‑birth parent may consent before birth. A minor parent may consent without telling their own parents and cannot undo consent just for reaching adulthood. A specific consent becomes invalid if all parents do not consent or have rights ended within 18 months, or if the named petitioners do not file within 18 months. A court may also void consent for fraud, duress, or undue influence, but the challenge must start within 30 days.
Home study and fair review rules
Agencies must do a home study that reviews medical, mental, financial, and moral backgrounds to judge suitability. Prospective adoptive parents must give fingerprints for state and FBI checks. If a study finds a home unsuitable, the agency must let the family review and respond before issuing results, and keep interviewee identities confidential as the law allows. Agencies and courts cannot deny or disqualify you just because you are deaf, blind, have another physical disability, or hold a valid registry ID card.
Stronger placement rules and family preference
You must send notice and get approval from the Division before placing a child with someone else. Agencies should try to place children with suitable relatives up to the fifth degree and keep siblings together when possible. Searches for relatives must finish within 1 year of the first out‑of‑home placement. If an agency finds a home got a child without required notice and does not seek an injunction, it must investigate; if suitable, the family has 6 months after the investigation to file for adoption or the home is licensed as foster if it meets standards. Courts cannot accept a tribal customary adoption if any adult in the home has certain violent or child‑related felonies. For some related sections, a hospital counts as a “person.”
Adult adoption rules clarified
An adult may adopt another adult who is at least 10 years younger, but not a spouse. The adults sign a written agreement and file in the county where either lives. The court holds a hearing, may require notice or an investigation, and approves if it is in the parties’ best interests. The adoptee may ask for a name change as part of the case.
Clear consent and withdrawal rules
Every living parent and any legal guardian must usually consent, unless rights were already ended, the parent has died, or another state’s birth father registry ended rights. A valid consent or relinquishment must identify the child, be in writing, be signed (for birth parents not sooner than 72 hours after birth), be notarized, name who receives the child, include any Indian-child info, and have two disinterested witnesses. A child-placing agency social worker may remotely witness a parent who lives in another state, and witnesses may file affidavits instead of appearing in court. Before a final order, adoptive parents may withdraw, void the consent, and surrender the placement with a notarized notice to the parents, court, and agency. Voiding consent restores parental rights. You cannot surrender after a final adoption order.
Clear court steps to finish adoption
You may file an adoption petition any time after placement and must include the placement date, fitness and finances, ICWA inquiry info, and any contact or visitation orders. The court gives notice to any nonparent custodian or guardian. Within 15 days after filing or 5 months after placement, whichever is later, you must file an affidavit of all fees and costs and send a copy to the agency. You, the child, agency reps, and lawyers may attend hearings by phone or remote; the court can excuse the child. After the order, you must submit a report so the State Registrar can update the birth record. After the adoption is granted, a placing parent generally cannot set it aside unless a court already set aside the underlying consent, relinquishment, or termination of rights.
Close-family adoptions get clear rules
The law creates a chapter with rules for close-family adoptions. It defines key terms like parent, placing parent, prospective adoptive parent, relinquishment, and specific consent. This gives families and courts a clearer roadmap.
Confirmatory adoption for Nevada records
You can file a confirmatory adoption in Nevada only if the child's birth certificate was issued in Nevada. The petition shows how parentage was already established and includes a birth certificate, court order, or other proof; these records are confidential. The court’s order confirms each legal parent and may change the child's name. After the order, you file a report so the State Registrar can issue or update the birth certificate.
Fair rules for judging adoptive homes
The Division sets clear criteria for deciding if a home is suitable. Agencies must share investigation results with prospective parents and let them respond. Identities of sources stay confidential as the law allows. Agencies cannot reject a home only because parents are deaf, blind, have another physical disability, or hold a valid registry ID card.
International adoptions: easy Nevada readoption
If you completed an adoption in another country, you can petition to readopt in Nevada. File the foreign adoption order or certificate, the child’s birth certificate, and certified English translations. After the order, submit the Registrar’s report so Nevada can issue or update the birth certificate.
Keep siblings together and in touch
Agencies must try to place siblings together when practicable. If there is a court order for sibling visitation, the judge adds it to the adoption order unless someone asks to change it within 30 days of notice. The court decides that request at the adoption hearing and can enforce visitation. Families adopting siblings can file one petition for all siblings to cut time and paperwork.
State adoption register to reconnect families
The state keeps a voluntary adoption register. Adults who were adopted, placing parents, and relatives within the third degree can add their names. You may withdraw your name at any time in writing, and the Division must remove it right away. The Division may release information only when both the adopted person’s and the relative’s names are in the register and required written consent is on file. An adopted person may limit release to certain types of relatives.
Updated inheritance rules after adoption
When a person is adopted, the adopted child and the adoptive parents and their relatives inherit under the updated rule in section 38 of this law. This clarifies how adopted people and adoptive families inherit.
Who can adopt and who agrees
You must usually be at least 10 years older than the child, but the court can waive this if it is best for the child. A child age 14 or older must agree to the adoption. If you are married and not legally separated, your spouse must agree unless the court excuses it, and the spouse only becomes a legal parent if they file a written agreement and are named in the order. The court must strongly consider the emotional bond when deciding the child’s best interest and may change the child’s name.
Birth parents can sue over false statements
If you are a birth parent with a signed postadoptive contact agreement, the law lets you sue. You can bring a civil case against anyone who knowingly gave false answers to the judge’s required questions and caused the court not to include your agreement in the adoption order. You can seek your actual losses, court costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The court may also award punitive damages. This is on top of any other legal claims you may have.
Foster parents can see and share records
A licensing authority may, at your request, share your foster care provider records with a child‑welfare or child‑placing agency, except references. You can also review your own licensing and home‑study records after giving reasonable notice and making an appointment.
Courts keep sibling visits after adoption
If a child in agency custody has a court order for sibling visits, the court includes that order in the adoption. Anyone who wants to change it must ask the court within 30 days after notice. The court decides sibling visitation before finalizing the adoption. Siblings can later ask the court to enforce or change visits.
System updates for agencies and courts
The law clarifies which statutes govern agency, identified, and adult adoptions. It lets child welfare agencies, child‑placing agencies, or Nevada attorneys handle ICPC work. It updates definitions (for example, a hospital can be a “person” and what it means to recommend placement). In districts with family courts, those courts hear these adoption matters. Criminal penalties do not apply to placements done under authorized adoption rules. The Health and Human Services Director and the DCFS Administrator oversee these chapters and may require needed program information from providers. The law also spells out which agencies may accept relinquishments or consent to adoption and requires reimbursement when a local agency accepts a relinquishment for a child‑placing agency.
Adult adoptions need spouse approval
If you are married and not legally separated, your spouse must agree before you can adopt an adult or be adopted. No consent from a natural parent or approval by the Division is required for adult adoptions.
When special‑needs adoption aid ends
Financial assistance for special‑needs adoptions ends when the child turns 18 if not in school, or 19 if in school. It also ends if the child graduates high school at 18 or older, becomes self‑supporting, is emancipated, or dies. Ending assistance does not change legal status or other obligations.
Court and filing rules for adoptions
District courts handle adoption cases, and case captions list only the adopting parties. After placement, you may file a petition that must include set facts, fit‑and‑able statements, and notes on ICWA, trafficking, abuse, and any contact or visitation orders. The court must notify nonparent custodians or guardians of the filing, and parties may attend hearings by phone or video; the court can excuse the child for good cause. After an order, the petitioner or attorney must file a report to vital statistics so a new birth certificate can be prepared; adoption orders are final judgments. Interstate compact tasks may be handled by an agency, a child‑placing agency, or a Nevada attorney, and adoption decrees from July 1, 1963 to June 30, 1965 remain valid even with technical defects.
Home-state rule for filing adoptions
You must file the adoption in the child’s home state. Home state means where the child lived for at least six months, or the state of birth for infants under six months. Temporary absences still count. If Nevada is not the home state, you may need to file in another state.
Post-adoption contact: enforceable limits
Breaking a post-adoption contact agreement cannot undo the adoption, revoke a valid consent or relinquishment, or lead to civil damages except as another law allows. Only an adoptive parent may ask the court to change or end contact. The court may reduce or end contact if there is a change in circumstances and contact is no longer in the child’s best interest, or if all parties agree. The court cannot increase contact or add new duties for an adoptive parent and starts with a presumption favoring the adoptive parent’s request.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Brittney M. Miller
Democratic • House
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 5/23/2025
Final Passage - Senate (2nd Reprint)
Yes: 20 • No: 0
House vote • 4/22/2025
Final Passage - Assembly (1st Reprint)
Yes: 41 • No: 1
Actions Timeline
Chapter 239.
6/3/2025legislatureApproved by the Governor.
6/3/2025legislatureEnrolled and delivered to Governor.
5/29/2025legislatureSenate Amendment No. 671 concurred in. To enrollment.
5/27/2025HouseIn Assembly.
5/26/2025HouseRead third time. Passed, as amended. Title approved. (Yeas: 20, Nays: None, Excused: 1.) To Assembly.
5/23/2025SenateTaken from Secretary's desk. Placed on General File.
5/23/2025SenateTaken from General File. Placed on Secretary's desk.
5/23/2025SenateFrom printer. To re-engrossment. Re-engrossed. Second reprint.
5/23/2025SenateRead second time. Amended. (Amend. No. 671.) To printer.
5/22/2025SenatePlaced on Second Reading File.
5/22/2025SenateFrom committee: Amend, and do pass as amended.
5/22/2025SenateRead first time. Referred to Committee on Judiciary. To committee.
4/29/2025SenateIn Senate.
4/28/2025SenateTo Senate.
4/25/2025HouseFrom printer. To engrossment. Engrossed. First reprint.
4/25/2025HouseTo printer.
4/22/2025HouseRead third time. Passed, as amended. Title approved, as amended. (Yeas: 41, Nays: 1.)
4/22/2025HouseDispensed with reprinting.
4/21/2025HouseRead second time. Amended. (Amend. No. 225.)
4/21/2025HousePlaced on Second Reading File.
4/21/2025HouseFrom committee: Amend, and do pass as amended.
4/21/2025HouseNotice of eligibility for exemption.
2/25/2025HouseFrom printer. To committee.
2/6/2025HouseTo printer.
2/4/2025House
Bill Text
As Enrolled
As Introduced
Reprint 1
Reprint 2
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