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DIVISION 13. ADOPTION 8500-9340›PART 2. ADOPTION OF UNMARRIED MINORS 8600-9213›CHAPTER 1. General Provisions 8600-8622

§ 8603

California Family Code · 2020-11 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · California

(a) A married person, not lawfully separated from the person’s spouse, shall not adopt a child without the consent of the spouse, provided that the spouse is capable of giving that consent.

(b) The consent of the spouse shall not establish any parental rights or responsibilities on the part of the consenting spouse unless that person has consented to adopt the child in a writing filed with the court and is named in the final decree as an adoptive parent. The court shall not name the consenting spouse as an adoptive parent in the final decree unless the consenting spouse has filed a written consent to adopt the child with the court and has an approved adoption home study.

(c) The court may dispense with the consent of a spouse who cannot be located after diligent search, or a spouse determined by the court to lack the capacity to consent. A spouse for whom consent was dispensed shall not be named as an adoptive parent in the final decree.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 115, Sec. 111. (AB 1817) Effective January 1, 2020.)

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California Family Code

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