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How much does it cost to file for adoption in Washington?

Filing an adoption petition in Washington costs $290 in superior court clerk charges — a $200 filing fee plus $90 of statutory surcharges. RCW 36.18.020(2)(a) sets the $200 fee for the party filing the first document in any civil action and names adoption expressly in the list, alongside restitution and change of name. Two surcharge subsections then attach to that fee: subsection (5)(c) adds $40 on filing fees under the section, and subsection (6) adds $50 on the subsection (2)(a) and (2)(f) family of filings — the same arithmetic this site's Washington probate costs page works through for a probate opening. The statute also draws a humane line at subsection (3): no fee is collected when a petition for relinquishment of parental rights is filed under RCW 26.33.080.

Washington adoption fees at a glance

Washington's is a single statewide structure: the fee and both surcharges are set in the same statute for every county clerk, so opening an adoption in King County costs the same at the clerk's counter as opening one in Spokane or Yakima. The surcharges are not clerk inventions — subsection (5) directs most of its share to the state judicial stabilization trust account, and subsection (6)'s $50 has applied to the (2)(a) and probate (2)(f) filings for years, which is why Washington pages on this site consistently show the $200-plus-$90 pattern. What the $290 buys is the opening of the adoption file in superior court; adoption in Washington is a chapter 26.33 proceeding, and the petition is filed in the superior court of the county where the petitioner lives or where the adoptee is present. The national comparison is on the adoption filing costs hub.

Relinquishment, consent and the no-fee line

Subsection (3)'s no-fee rule for relinquishment petitions is worth understanding, because relinquishment and adoption are adjacent but different filings. A relinquishment under RCW 26.33.080 is a parent's surrender of a child to an agency or the department so the child can be placed for adoption; the legislature chose to charge nothing at that door. The adoption petition that later makes a placement permanent is the adoptive parents' filing, and it pays the full $290. Stepparent and relative adoptions, adult adoptions and agency adoptions all open under the same (2)(a) fee — the statute prices the first document in the civil action without distinguishing among adoption types. Where a case instead begins with a contested termination or a dependency, different provisions and fee treatments can apply, and the clerk confirms the correct category at filing.

What the filing fee does not include

The clerk's $290 is the smallest predictable part of most adoptions. A home study or preplacement report, where chapter 26.33 requires one, is prepared by an agency or qualified person at that provider's rates; background checks carry their own agency charges; and attorney fees, where the adoptive parents engage counsel, are market-priced. None of those figures is set by RCW 36.18.020 or published on a statewide schedule, so this page names them without inventing amounts — the same discipline this site applies on its California adoption costs, Oregon adoption costs and Alaska adoption costs pages, each of which prices the court filing from its own state's schedule and leaves provider charges unpriced.

How the case runs

1. Complete the adoption petition and the chapter 26.33 paperwork for the superior court of the proper county
2. File the petition and pay the clerk charges $290
3. Complete the required background checks and any preplacement or postplacement reports through the provider handling them
4. Attend the finalization hearing, where the court enters the decree of adoption
5. Order certified copies of the decree for records, school and the amended birth certificate process

What adoption really costs beyond the clerk

Adoption budgets fail when they mistake the filing fee for the cost. Agency adoptions can involve agency fees set by the agency; independent adoptions involve the home study, legal work for both the placing and adopting sides where separate counsel is required or chosen, and court-ordered reports; stepparent adoptions are usually the leanest because the family is already formed and some study requirements may be streamlined by the court. None of those amounts comes from an official schedule, and quoting a statewide average would be inventing a figure — so the honest budget is the verified $290 at the clerk plus provider quotes obtained directly. For the court side alone, Washington's structure is at least fully predictable: $200, plus $40, plus $50, in every county. Compare the filing side across states on the adoption hub and the wider Washington picture on the Washington court costs guide.

Can't afford the fee?

Washington superior courts can waive filing fees for a filer who cannot pay them: RCW 36.18.022 addresses waiver of filing fees, and in practice the filer asks the clerk for the current waiver application and files a sworn financial statement with the petition. Ask at the same visit — the clerk cannot open the case on an unpaid fee without an order — and understand that a waiver reaches the clerk's charges, not agency, study or attorney costs. The relinquishment side of the system needs no waiver at all, because subsection (3) charges no fee in the first place. The general mechanics of fee waivers are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: RCW 36.18.020, official text at app.leg.wa.gov, read directly — (2)(a) first-document fee $200 for a civil action expressly including adoption, restitution and change of name, and for counterclaims, cross-claims and third-party claims; (3) no fee for a petition for relinquishment of parental rights under RCW 26.33.080; (5)(c) surcharge $40; (6) surcharge $50 on (2)(a) and (2)(f) filings · RCW 36.18.022 (filing fees may be waived). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the county clerk.