Adoption is the legal process in which a person assumes responsibility for the health, safety, well-being, and financial support of another person—usually a child—and terminates the rights and responsibilities of the adopted person’s biological parent or parents.
In Arkansas, adoption is governed by state statutes that outline the legal process for establishing a permanent legal parent-child relationship between an individual (or couple) and a child. This process involves the termination of the biological parents' legal rights and responsibilities and the granting of those rights and responsibilities to the adoptive parents. Arkansas law requires that certain procedures be followed, including home studies, background checks, and court hearings. The consent of the biological parents is typically required unless their rights have been terminated due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. The adoption process can involve children in the foster care system, private adoptions, international adoptions, and stepparent adoptions. Once an adoption is finalized by a court order, the adoptive parents have the same rights and responsibilities as if the child were born to them, and the child gains inheritance rights and the legal right to be supported and cared for by the adoptive parents.