Articles and Publications
Adoption and Children Law
13/Sep/2009
What is adoption?
Adoption is an order of the court which changes a child's status forever; it is the most fundamental change a court can ever make for a child. The child ceases to be the child of his or her natural parents and becomes the child of his or her adoptive parents. The natural parents lose their parental responsibility for the child and the adoptive parents acquire it.
The welfare principle
Whenever a court or adoption agency makes a decision about the adoption of a child, its paramount consideration must be the child’s welfare throughout his life. Additionally, the court or adoption agency must at all times bear in mind that, in general, any delay in coming to the decision is likely to prejudice the child’s welfare.
The reporting officer
Once an adoption application is filed, the court will appoint a reporting officer whose job is to find out whether any person with parental responsibility agrees to the order being made and to report about this to the court.
If agreement is not given the reporting officer will be asked to change role. He or she will be asked to become the child's guardian in the proceedings, producing for the court a full report setting out whether it is in the child's best interests for the adoption order to be made.
Can adopted children have contact with their birth family in the future?
Children who are adopted will usually be given a Life Story Book with photographs and other information about their life so far, including information about their birth family.
It is not uncommon for children to have continuing contact with their birth family by way of letters, cards and photographs exchanged through social services. This is called ‘letter box contact’.
In a few cases children continue to have face to face contact with members of their birth family. Adoptive parents can agree to this and the court can order it, although it is unusual for the court to make such an order.
Recent changes in legislation
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 came into force on 30 December 2005. The Act made the following fundamental changes to the previous legislation:
• It places a duty on local authorities to maintain an adoption service, including arrangements for the provision of adoption support services;
• It provides for adoption orders to be made in favour of single people, married couples and, for the first time, unmarried couples;
• It provides a new framework designed to ensure a more consistent approach by adoption agencies in respect of access to information held about adoptions which take place after the 2002 Act came into force;
• It provides a new framework to assist adopted children to obtain information about their adoption when they become adults, and facilitate contact between them and their birth relatives, where the person was adopted before the 2002 Act came into force;
• It provides additional restrictions on bringing a child into the UK in connection with adoption;
• It provides restrictions on arranging adoptions and advertising children for adoption, other than through adoption agencies;
• It establishes an Adoption and Children Act register, to recommend matches between children waiting to be adopted and approves prospective adopters, and
• It amends the Children Act 1989 to introduce a new special guardianship order intended to provide permanence for children for whom adoption is not appropriate.
Formalities
At least one of the couple (in the case of an application by a couple) or the applicant (in the case of a sole applicant) must be domiciled in part of the British Isles, or both of the couple or the sole applicant must have been habitually resident in a part of the British Isles for a period of not less than 1 year by the date of the application.
An application for an adoption order may only be made if the person to be adopted is under the age of 18 years on the date of the application.
For couple applicants, both must be at least 21 years old.
"Couple" is not confined to a married couple and extends to partners who have registered their relationship under the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
Placement Orders
• A placement order is an order permitting a local authority to place a child with any prospective adopters selected by that local authority. Once a placement order has been made the prospective adopters acquire parental responsibility.
• The court may not make a placement order unless:
i) The child is subject to a care order, or
ii) The court is satisfied the child has suffered, or is at risk of suffering, significant harm, or
iii) The child has no parent or guardian, or
iv) The consent of the natural parents has been given, or
v) Consent has not been given but the court considers that parental consent should be dispensed with.
• On the making of a placement order all previous orders for contact under Children Act 1989 cease to have effect. No application may be made for a contact order between the placement order and the final adoption order (when a post adoption contact order can be made).
Dispensing with parental consent
• There are two grounds for dispensing with consent:
i) That the parent or guardian cannot be found or is incapable of giving consent, or
ii) That "the welfare of the child" requires that consent be dispensed with.
Special Guardianship Order
The new legislation allows the court to make Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) rather than adoption orders. Such orders will be legally secure and give carers clear responsibility for the child, and are intended to provide firm foundations for a lifelong, permanent relationship;
It is likely that the court would make such orders where it wishes to preserve the basic link with the birth family, and that they would be accompanied by proper access to support services including, if appropriate, financial support.
The key elements of an SGO are:
• The Special Guardian (SG) exercises parental responsibility (PR) to the exclusion of any other holder of PR except in situations where the law requires the consent of all holders of PR or on adoption;
• The SG takes the day to day decisions on upbringing;
• Parents retain very limited rights;
• On making a SGO, the court may give permission for the child to be known by a new surname;
• SGOs can be varied or discharged by the court during any family proceedings in which the welfare of the child arises or on application;
• SGO discharges any existing care order, related contact order or any other order made under S.8 Children Act 1989 (e.g. residence or contact orders);
• If the need arises, a care order or a residence order may be made while a SGO is in force. In this case, the SGO is not automatically discharged, but the local authority concerned, or the person with the residence order has the right to apply for discharge or variation of the SGO.
Adoption is an order of the court which changes a child's status forever; it is the most fundamental change a court can ever make for a child. The child ceases to be the child of his or her natural parents and becomes the child of his or her adoptive parents. The natural parents lose their parental responsibility for the child and the adoptive parents acquire it.
The welfare principle
Whenever a court or adoption agency makes a decision about the adoption of a child, its paramount consideration must be the child’s welfare throughout his life. Additionally, the court or adoption agency must at all times bear in mind that, in general, any delay in coming to the decision is likely to prejudice the child’s welfare.
The reporting officer
Once an adoption application is filed, the court will appoint a reporting officer whose job is to find out whether any person with parental responsibility agrees to the order being made and to report about this to the court.
If agreement is not given the reporting officer will be asked to change role. He or she will be asked to become the child's guardian in the proceedings, producing for the court a full report setting out whether it is in the child's best interests for the adoption order to be made.
Can adopted children have contact with their birth family in the future?
Children who are adopted will usually be given a Life Story Book with photographs and other information about their life so far, including information about their birth family.
It is not uncommon for children to have continuing contact with their birth family by way of letters, cards and photographs exchanged through social services. This is called ‘letter box contact’.
In a few cases children continue to have face to face contact with members of their birth family. Adoptive parents can agree to this and the court can order it, although it is unusual for the court to make such an order.
Recent changes in legislation
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 came into force on 30 December 2005. The Act made the following fundamental changes to the previous legislation:
• It places a duty on local authorities to maintain an adoption service, including arrangements for the provision of adoption support services;
• It provides for adoption orders to be made in favour of single people, married couples and, for the first time, unmarried couples;
• It provides a new framework designed to ensure a more consistent approach by adoption agencies in respect of access to information held about adoptions which take place after the 2002 Act came into force;
• It provides a new framework to assist adopted children to obtain information about their adoption when they become adults, and facilitate contact between them and their birth relatives, where the person was adopted before the 2002 Act came into force;
• It provides additional restrictions on bringing a child into the UK in connection with adoption;
• It provides restrictions on arranging adoptions and advertising children for adoption, other than through adoption agencies;
• It establishes an Adoption and Children Act register, to recommend matches between children waiting to be adopted and approves prospective adopters, and
• It amends the Children Act 1989 to introduce a new special guardianship order intended to provide permanence for children for whom adoption is not appropriate.
Formalities
At least one of the couple (in the case of an application by a couple) or the applicant (in the case of a sole applicant) must be domiciled in part of the British Isles, or both of the couple or the sole applicant must have been habitually resident in a part of the British Isles for a period of not less than 1 year by the date of the application.
An application for an adoption order may only be made if the person to be adopted is under the age of 18 years on the date of the application.
For couple applicants, both must be at least 21 years old.
"Couple" is not confined to a married couple and extends to partners who have registered their relationship under the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
Placement Orders
• A placement order is an order permitting a local authority to place a child with any prospective adopters selected by that local authority. Once a placement order has been made the prospective adopters acquire parental responsibility.
• The court may not make a placement order unless:
i) The child is subject to a care order, or
ii) The court is satisfied the child has suffered, or is at risk of suffering, significant harm, or
iii) The child has no parent or guardian, or
iv) The consent of the natural parents has been given, or
v) Consent has not been given but the court considers that parental consent should be dispensed with.
• On the making of a placement order all previous orders for contact under Children Act 1989 cease to have effect. No application may be made for a contact order between the placement order and the final adoption order (when a post adoption contact order can be made).
Dispensing with parental consent
• There are two grounds for dispensing with consent:
i) That the parent or guardian cannot be found or is incapable of giving consent, or
ii) That "the welfare of the child" requires that consent be dispensed with.
Special Guardianship Order
The new legislation allows the court to make Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) rather than adoption orders. Such orders will be legally secure and give carers clear responsibility for the child, and are intended to provide firm foundations for a lifelong, permanent relationship;
It is likely that the court would make such orders where it wishes to preserve the basic link with the birth family, and that they would be accompanied by proper access to support services including, if appropriate, financial support.
The key elements of an SGO are:
• The Special Guardian (SG) exercises parental responsibility (PR) to the exclusion of any other holder of PR except in situations where the law requires the consent of all holders of PR or on adoption;
• The SG takes the day to day decisions on upbringing;
• Parents retain very limited rights;
• On making a SGO, the court may give permission for the child to be known by a new surname;
• SGOs can be varied or discharged by the court during any family proceedings in which the welfare of the child arises or on application;
• SGO discharges any existing care order, related contact order or any other order made under S.8 Children Act 1989 (e.g. residence or contact orders);
• If the need arises, a care order or a residence order may be made while a SGO is in force. In this case, the SGO is not automatically discharged, but the local authority concerned, or the person with the residence order has the right to apply for discharge or variation of the SGO.
