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JDF 503

Petition for Custodial Adoption

Colorado · Colorado Judicial Branch · Effective July 1, 2023

This form is a request to the court to legally adopt a child, making the child the legal child of the person or people filing the form. It asks for details about the people filing, the child, and the birth parents.

Open the official PDFfrom Colorado Judicial Branch

Where this fits in a case

Start a case

Stage: Start a case

This form is used when people want to legally adopt a child and need to file paperwork with the court to start the adoption process.

Usually filed by the person starting the case.

Common questions

Who fills out this form?
The person or people who want to adopt the child fill out this form. This is called the Petitioner(s).
What kind of information is needed?
The form asks for personal details about the people filing, the child, and also information about the child's birth parents. It also asks about background checks and any past legal issues.
Does this form require any attached documents?
The form mentions needing to attach things like fingerprint checks and background checks, depending on the situation.

Revision history

No changes recorded since we started tracking this form on October 10, 2026. The current version took effect July 1, 2023.

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