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Most forms used for adoptions of minor children are statewide Judicial Council forms and must be used for your adoption proceeding. Obtain a copy of each form you must file here. You may file your adoption request and related papers in any of our court locations. The paperwork will be forwarded to the appropriate courthouse in which your adoption finalization proceeding will be scheduled.
There are no statewide forms for adoptions of adults or married minors. However, the Alameda County Superior Court has created forms you can use for such adoptions. Please scroll to the bottom of this page for these optional forms. You may file your adoption request in any of our court locations. The paperwork will be forwarded to the appropriate courthouse in which your adoption finalization proceeding will be scheduled.
The Alameda County Superior Court realizes that your adoption finalization court date is a special day for your family. Your extended family members and friends are welcome to share this event with you, so please invite them to join you. Judges who preside over adoption proceedings usually permit families to take photographs or videos throughout the event, as long as the photography is confined to the courtroom or chambers in which the adoptions proceedings are conducted. So feel free to bring your cameras along when you come to your adoption finalization hearing.
Adoption files and records are confidential and not open to the public. While the adoptive parents and the attorney of record at the time of the adoption generally can have access to the files, anyone else, including the person who was adopted, must obtain a court order before any information from such files may be released. Anyone seeking access to Alameda County adoption records must file a request to inspect adoption records. Before ordering release of such files, the judge is required by law to ensure that the person seeking access to information in the adoption files has met a very high standard of demonstrating a critical need for such confidential information. For this reason, requests for access to adoptions files are most often denied. If you are looking for a sibling who was adopted, you must use a Judicial Council form to ask the court to appoint a confidential intermediary to seek access to your sibling’s adoption records. All requests for access to adoption files and records may be filed in any court location, and will be routed to the appropriate judge for review and decision.
November is Adoption and Permanency Month in California, a time when the focus is on efforts to provide permanent homes for children awaiting adoption. National Adoption Day is also celebrated in November, and courts and communities all around the country hold special events and special adoption ceremonies for families. The Alameda County Superior Court is pleased to participate in these annual efforts by setting aside a special day in November for our judicial officers to volunteer to preside over numerous adoption finalization hearings. Although the Annual Adoption Day event is not open to the general public, it serves to strengthen our communities by reducing the amount of time children remain in the system awaiting permanent placement.