Cal. Family Code § 8601 : California Family Code — Adoption — General Provisions — Prospective parents at least 10 years older than child; adoption approved without regard to ages Date: 7 Sep 2016 TEXT PDF Current through the 2016 Legislative Session (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), a prospective adoptive parent or parents shall be at least 10 years older than the child. (b) If the court is satisfied that the adoption of a child by a stepparent, or by a sister, brother, aunt, uncle, or first cousin and, if that person is married, by that person and that person's spouse, is in the best interest of the parties and is in the public interest, it may approve the adoption without regard to the ages of the child and the prospective adoptive parent or parents. Ca. Fam. Code § 8601