What legal document is essential for an adoption to be finalized?

To finalize an adoption, a court order is essential. This document signifies that the adoption has been legally recognized by a judge, effectively transferring parental rights from the biological parents or guardians to the adoptive parents. The court order ensures that all legal requirements have been met, such as background checks, home studies, and necessary consents from biological parents, thereby establishing the adoptive parents as the legal guardians of the child.

In contrast, while a birth certificate can provide important identification information and an affidavit of consent may be necessary during the adoption process to document the agreement of biological parents, neither is sufficient to finalize the adoption on its own. A psychological evaluation report might be requested in some cases to assess the suitability of the adoptive parents, but it too does not serve as the finalizing legal document. Only the court order carries the legal weight needed to complete the adoption process.