OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 5* Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 5’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by Senate Judiciary
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Ray and Baker
Effective date:
Amy L. Archer, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
▪ Makes various changes to Ohio’s Adoption Law, including the following:
 Permits a public children services agency (PCSA) or private child placing agency (PCPA)
to accept the voluntary permanent surrender of a child by the child’s parents while
the child is in the agency’s temporary custody;
 Makes changes to the requirements governing who may adopt and requires spousal
consent (instead of support) in certain cases;
 Permits adult adoption of a person with a developmental disability (rather than solely
an intellectual disability as in current law);
 Makes various changes to provisions governing consent to adoption and when
consent is not required;
 Requires the court to apply the amount of time a child has lived in the home of a
child’s relative, kinship caregiver, legal custodian, or guardian (in addition to the
child’s foster caregiver in continuing law) who is adopting the child prior to the date
that person filed the adoption period toward the six-month waiting period required
before an adoption is final;
 Requires the court to notify any agency with permanent custody of the child to be
adopted of an adoption petition filing and the adoption hearing;
* This analysis was prepared before the report of the Senate Judiciary Committee appeared in the Senate
Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
November 20, 2024
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 Makes changes to the language required in notices of the filing of an adoption petition
and to certain requirements of adoption proceedings regarding closed hearings and
recordkeeping;
 Increases to $6,000, from $3,000, the maximum amount that an adoption petitioner
may disburse to the birth mother for living expenses incurred during pregnancy;
 Permits a court to reconsider and vacate the adoption decree of a child if there is clear
and convincing evidence the child was a victim of trafficking in persons;
 Makes various other changes regarding the issuance and appeal of adoption decrees;
 Allows for a foreign decree of adoption to be accepted and considered final in Ohio if
certain conditions are met, rather than requiring the adoptive parent to petition the
court for finalization of the adoption;
 Applies the best interest factors set forth in continuing law governing contested
adoptions to other continuing Adoption Law provisions where “best interest” is not
defined in current law;
 Adds and removes adoptions by certain individuals (e.g., by a child’s adult sibling or
grandparent) as being exempt from aspects of the adoption procedure;
 Recodifies certain Adoption Law provisions, defines terms used in continuing law, and
makes other updates.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Voluntary permanent custody surrender agreement .................................................................... 3
Surrender of child in temporary custody .................................................................................... 3
Effect of surrender agreement.................................................................................................... 3
Who may adopt .............................................................................................................................. 4
Adult adoption ................................................................................................................................ 4
When consent is not required ........................................................................................................ 5
Filing of consents and relinquishment of consents ........................................................................ 6
Waiting period ................................................................................................................................ 6
Notice of adoption hearing ............................................................................................................. 7
Changes to notification requirements ........................................................................................ 7
Notice changes ............................................................................................................................ 7
Adoption hearings........................................................................................................................... 9
Admittance to closed court ......................................................................................................... 9
Recordkeeping............................................................................................................................. 9
Accounting before adoption finalization ........................................................................................ 9
Living expenses for birth mother ................................................................................................ 9
Exception for good cause shown ................................................................................................ 9
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Issuance of final decree ................................................................................................................ 10
Appeal of adoption decree ........................................................................................................... 10
Recognition of foreign adoption decrees ..................................................................................... 10
Child’s best interest factors .......................................................................................................... 11
Application to Adoption Law ..................................................................................................... 11
In contested adoption ............................................................................................................... 12
Exceptions to adoption requirements .......................................................................................... 12
Adoption arrangement by agency or attorney ......................................................................... 12
Preliminary estimate and final accounting ............................................................................... 13
Duties of an assessor prior to execution of consent ................................................................. 13
Placement of children ............................................................................................................... 13
Executing consent to adoption ..................................................................................................... 13
Probate court jurisdiction for adoption petitions ........................................................................ 14
Termination of child support order .............................................................................................. 14
Recodification ............................................................................................................................... 14
Adoption Law definitions .............................................................................................................. 14
Other updates ............................................................................................................................... 15
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Voluntary permanent custody surrender agreement
Surrender of child in temporary custody
The bill allows the parents of a child who is in the temporary custody of a public children
services agency (PCSA) or private child placing agency (PCPA), subject to juvenile court approval,
to enter into an agreement surrendering the child into the permanent custody of that PCSA or
PCPA using the process provided under continuing law. Also, the parents, guardian, or other
persons having custody of the child may voluntarily surrender custody to a PCSA or PCPA, under
continuing law.
The bill also requires the PCPA or PCSA requesting court approval of a permanent surrender
agreement to file with the court an original or amended case plan, rather than a case plan […] with
the court as in current law, at the same time it files its request for approval of the agreement.1
Effect of surrender agreement
The bill repeals the requirement that the parent must consent to a child’s adoption when
the parent has entered into a voluntary surrender agreement unless certain conditions are met,
including, for example, that the parent signs the applicable components of the form prescribed
1 R.C. 5103.15, with conforming changes in R.C. 2151.412 and 5103.153.
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by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services under continuing law for a parent of a child
who, if adopted, will become an adopted person.2
Who may adopt
The bill repeals the provision permitting the unmarried minor parent of the person to be
adopted to adopt.
Additionally, with regard to an adoption by a married adult without the other spouse
joining as a petitioner, the bill makes the following changes:
1. In an adoption in which the other spouse is a parent of the person to be adopted (a
stepparent adoption), the other spouse consents to the adoption (instead of “supports”
it as in current law);
2. The failure of the other spouse to join in the petition or to consent (instead of “support”
under current law) to the adoption is found by the court to be by reason of prolonged
unexplained absence, unavailability, incapacity, or circumstances that make it impossible
or unreasonably difficult to obtain either the consent (instead of “support”) or refusal of
the other spouse.3
Adult adoption
Ohio law permits adult adoption only under certain circumstances. The bill changes some
of those circumstances.
The bill allows an adult with a developmental disability, rather than solely an intellectual
disability as in current law, to be adopted. Continuing law defines “developmental disability,”
and, under this definition, an intellectual disability is included as a developmental disability.
Besides including intellectual disability, “developmental disability” is a severe, chronic disability
that is characterized by all of the following:
▪ It is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of mental and
physical impairments, other than a mental or physical impairment solely caused by
mental illness.
▪ It is manifested before age 22.
▪ It is likely to continue indefinitely.
▪ It results in one of the following:
 In the case of a person under three years of age, at least one developmental delay or
a diagnosed physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in a
developmental delay;
2R.C. 3107.071 (repealed), with conforming changes in R.C. 3107.07(C), 3107.083, 3107.11(A), 3107.19,
and 3107.46.
3 R.C. 3107.03.
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 In the case of a person at least three years of age but under six years of age, at least
two developmental delays;
 In the case of a person six years of age or older, a substantial functional limitation in
at least three areas of major life activity.
▪ It causes the person to need a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or
other type of care, treatment, or provision of services for an extended period of time that
is individually planned and coordinated for the person.4
When consent is not required
Continuing law provides that consent for adoption is not required of certain individuals in
certain circumstances. The bill amends those circumstances, as shown in italics, as follows:
▪ A parent has failed without justifiable cause to have (changed from provide in current law)
more than de minimis contact with the minor or to provide meaningful and regular
maintenance and support of the minor for a period of one year preceding the adoption
filing (changed from for a period of at least one year preceding either the filing of the
adoption petition or the placement of the minor in the petitioner’s home).
▪ A putative father when either of the following applies:
 The putative father fails to register as such with the Ohio putative father registry in
accordance with a rule established by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
(ODJFS);
 The court finds that the putative father is not the child’s father, has failed without
justifiable cause to have more than de minimis contact with the minor or to provide
meaningful and regular maintenance and support for the minor (rather than finding
that the putative father has willfully abandoned or failed to care for and support the
minor, as in current law), or the putative father has willfully failed to meaningfully and
regularly care for and support the minor’s mother (changed from abandoned) during
her pregnancy and up to the time of surrender of the minor or the minor’s placement
in the home of the petitioner or petitioners, whichever occurs first.
▪ A parent who has entered into a properly executed voluntary permanent custody
surrender.
▪ A parent whose parental rights have been terminated by order of a juvenile court or any
court of competent jurisdiction.
▪ Any agency having permanent custody of the person to be adopted whose reasons for
withholding consent are found by the court to be unreasonable (instead of, as in current
law, any legal guardian or lawful custodian of the person to be adopted, other than a
parent who has failed to respond in writing to a request for consent for a period of 30 days
4 R.C. 3107.02(B) and (F); R.C. 2151.011 and 5123.01(Q), not in the bill.
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or whose written reasons for withholding consent are found by a court to be
unreasonable).
▪ A juvenile court, agency, or person notified of an adoption hearing who fails to comply
with the requirements described in the bill under “Notice changes” (see below)
(instead of, as in current law, a notified court, agency, or person who fails to file an
objection to a petition within 14 days after proof is filed that the notice was given).
▪ A parent who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense that resulted in any
of the following:
 The death of the minor’s other parent, legal custodian, guardian, or primary care
provider.
 A term of incarceration of that parent that is expected to extend beyond the minor’s
age of majority.
The bill removes the following individuals who are not required to give consent under
current law:
1. A parent who is married to the petitioner and supports the adoption.
2. The spouse of the person to be adopted, if the spouse’s failure to give consent is the result
of circumstances that make it impossible or difficult to obtain the spouse’s consent or
refusal.
Finally, the consent of a legal guardian or guardian ad litem of an incompetent parent is
not required if the court finds the consent is being withheld unreasonably after examining the
reasons given for not consenting. Under current law, the court can only examine wr