Any person who may adopt may file an adoption petition under section 600.3. The following persons may adopt:
1. An unmarried adult.
2. Husband and wife together.
3. A husband or wife separately if the person to be adopted is not the other spouse and if any of the following conditions apply:
a. The adopting spouse is the stepparent of the person to be adopted.
b. The adopting spouse has been separated from the other spouse by reason of the other spouse’s abandonment as prescribed in section 597.10.
c. The adopting spouse is unable to petition with the other spouse because of the prolonged and unexplained absence, unavailability, or incapacity of the other spouse, or because of an unreasonable withholding of joinder by the other spouse, as determined by the juvenile court or court under section 600.5, subsection 7. [R60, §2600; C73, §2307; C97, §3250; C24, §10496; C27, 31, 35, §10501-b1; C39, §10501.1; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, §600.1; C77, 79, 81, §600.4] 2000 Acts, ch 1145, §4; 2022 Acts, ch 1021, §162 Referred to in §600.5, 600.14A\n\nTue Dec 09 21:59:56 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 600 (37, 1) 3 ADOPTION, §600.6 \n
Notes of Decisions
In Re Adoption of Cheney, 59 N.W.2d 685 (Iowa 1953).
· cites it 10× “Code section 600.4 fits into the construction we give the statutes: "When the parents of any minor child are dead or have abandoned him, and he has no guardian in the state, the court may order such notice of a hearing on such petition as he may determine or such notice may be…”
Schott v. Schott, 744 N.W.2d 85 (Iowa 2008).
· cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 600.4 (stating the following persons may adopt: an unmarried adult; a husband and wife together; or a husband or wife separately if the adopting spouse is the stepparent of the person to be adopted); § 600.”
Catholic Charities of Archdiocese of Dubuque v. Zalesky, 232 N.W.2d 539 (Iowa 1975).
· cites it 4× “" Mindful of the foregoing, we are satisfied an effective adjudication cannot hereafter be entered in any proceeding involving either (1) direct adoption to designated adoptive parents or (2) adoption of a child through a child-placement agency, premised upon parental release of…”
In re Adoption of Perkins, 49 N.W.2d 248 (Iowa 1951).
· cites it 4× “It should be pointed out the recent addition to section 600.4, Code 1946, I. C. A., requiring notice of hearing (on an adoption petition) to be given “a divorced parent not having custody of the child” (chapter 281, section 4, Acts of the Fifty-second General Assembly) does not…”
Stubbs v. Hammond, 135 N.W.2d 540 (Iowa 1965).
· cites it 2× “3, Code of Iowa, 1962, without notice to his parents or either of them, section 600.4, Code of Iowa, 1962. The only notice of the hearing served was that on the paternal grandmother.”
In Re Adoption of Cannon, 53 N.W.2d 877 (Iowa 1952).
· cites it 2× “It and the notice to a noncustodial parent (Code section 600.4) are doubtless intended to make possible the protection of the natural parental relationship from unwarranted interference by interlopers, but also to insure the opportunity for natural parents to safeguard the best…”
In Re Adoption of Ellis, 149 N.W.2d 804 (Iowa 1967).
· cites it 2× “The Fifty-second General Assembly, chapter 281, section 4, amended section 600.4, however, to provide for notice of the adoption proceedings ‘to a divorced parent not having custody of the child.”
In Re Adoption of Cheney, 56 N.W.2d 145 (Iowa 1952).
· cites it 2× “Section 600.4, Code 1950, I.C.A., provides as follows: "When the parents of any minor child are dead or have abandoned him, and he has no guardian in the state, the court may order such notice of a hearing on such petition as he may determine or such notice may be waived.”
Matter of Est. of Mills, 374 N.W.2d 675 (Iowa 1985).
“See § 600.4(1). Section 633.223 makes the adoptive status rather than the number of adoptive parents determinative of intestate succession rights.”
Heather Joye Schott Vs. Jamie Lee Schott (Iowa 2008).
· cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 600.4 (stating the following persons may adopt: an unmarried adult; a husband and wife together; or a husband or wife separately if the adopting spouse is the stepparent of the person to be adopted); § 600.”
Minnihan v. Mediacom Commc'ns Corp., 987 F. Supp. 2d 918 (S.D. Iowa 2013).
· cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 600.4 (4). Additionally, Minnihan’s medical records for a seizure he experienced in January of 2009 note that he was instructed by his doctors “that as the law states he cannot drive for 6 months,” though he could work with the Department of Transportation to try to…”
— Iowa Code § 600.4(1) — 1 case
Matter of Est. of Mills, 374 N.W.2d 675 (Iowa 1985).
“See § 600.4(1). Section 633.223 makes the adoptive status rather than the number of adoptive parents determinative of intestate succession rights.”
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