Adult Adoption is the legal adoption of a person 18 years or older. Sometimes this is the best way to formalize a step-parent relationship of long-standing when the legal parent was unwilling to consent to adoption and no substitute for consent fit the facts. It is simple, and requires no notice to the other legal parent; and yes, a name change is included. The child will have a new birth certificate, with the new legal parents. This is the typical “adult adoption,” but we have seen a lot of other scenarios where people accomplish adoption of someone over the age of 18.