Cases when parental consent for adoption is not required
For the adoption of children left without parents, priority is given to other options for placing such children: taking them into guardianship or guardianship, raising them with a family, sending children to orphanages, orphanages, and specialized medical institutions.
Only minors can be adopted, regardless of their health status.
The decision to adopt a child(ren) is made voluntarily. Therefore, if a person who wants to adopt a child goes through the entire prescribed procedure, the fact of adoption is established by a court decision. If material well-being, health, and living conditions meet all the standards used to verify the possibility of adoption and taking a child into care and upbringing, potential parents have the right to independently choose a candidate for adoption.
The basic requirements for adoption, the procedure for carrying out the adoption procedure itself, are regulated by the norms of family law in our country.
The adoption is considered finalized only after the court decision enters into legal force.
Once a child is adopted, any relationship between the adopted child and his biological parents and other relatives is legally terminated. That is, both adopted children and his blood relatives are released and are automatically released from all property and non-property obligations. Persons adopting children are subject to a number of mandatory requirements for obtaining permission to adopt:
- adoptive parents must be over 18 years of age;
- the age difference with the child being adopted must exceed 16 years. An exception is only in cases where a child from the first marriage of the second spouse is adopted by the spouse;
- potential parents should not be marked by an unfair attitude towards raising children: they were deprived of parental rights to children, were removed from guardianship due to an inappropriate attitude towards the assigned responsibilities in relation to children in care;
- persons who have been subject to criminal punishment and imprisonment for causing harm to health and threatening the lives of people also cannot raise children;
- Attention is also paid to the health status of the adoptive parents. An unconditional obstacle to permission to adopt will be the presence of: cancer, tuberculosis, mental illness.
When fulfilling all these requirements for adoptive parents, to resolve the issue on its merits, it is necessary to obtain a number of documents:
- a statement of consent of the second spouse, certified by a notary, if the adoption is carried out by a married couple;
- written or oral consent of the child’s parents at a court hearing;
- consent of the guardianship council, after examining the standard of living and other criteria for the possibility of maintaining and living the child;
- consent of the head of the children's or medical institution where the child who is going to be adopted lives;
- consent of the child himself, if he is ten years old at the time of adoption.
The question arises: is it possible to adopt a child without parental consent? To consider a case in court, parental consent is not required, according to the Family Code, if:
- the location of the blood parents is unknown;
- there is a court decision recognizing the biological parents as missing or dead;
- due to mental illness, people are recognized as partially or completely incompetent;
- completely removed themselves from supporting the child for more than six months.
Let us consider cases when a child is adopted without parental consent in more detail.
Package of necessary documents
- Document confirming no criminal record (certificate).
It is usually produced and issued to the police department at the place of registration (residence). But you can also take this document through the Public Services portal. The certificate production time is about 1 month. Shelf life – 6 months. To obtain a certificate, they write an application and submit it to the Department of Internal Affairs, and a special application is left on the portal. - An extract from the house register, which states that the stepfather lives with the child and his mother. This document will greatly simplify the adoption procedure.
- Certificate of income from permanent place of employment (form 2-NDFL).
This document must indicate the position and main official income. If a potential adoptive parent (stepfather) has additional income, then it is better for him to provide official documents confirming this fact. Naturally, the stepfather will not need to prove that he can adequately provide for the child. But in court they may require proof of income. - Certificate of general health (no serious illnesses). The certificate form has a special form 164/u-96, which is approved by the Ministry of Health.
- Positive reference from the official place of work. This document is drawn up by authorized employees of the enterprise. They put the seal of the organization and certify it with their signature.
- Documents for ownership of property (meaning real estate). If the entire family, including the child they want to adopt, lives on the stepfather’s territory (his property), then this fact will be a huge advantage for adoption.
- Certificate about the general health of the child himself. This document is prepared by medical workers in the clinic at the child’s place of residence. The certificate has a special form - 160у.
- Autobiographical note. The stepfather expresses his thoughts in his own hand, describing the main stages of his life.
All of the above documents are supported by the application to the guardianship authorities for study and decision.
Possible additional papers
If the child has reached 10 years of age, his consent to adoption is required. This requirement is regulated by Article 132 of the IC of the Russian Federation.
If the adoptive parent (stepfather) with his wife and the child lived together from an early age, and the child considers him to be his natural father, then the secrecy of adoption will apply in this situation. The child's consent will not be asked for the adoption process.
- In some regions, a certificate may be required stating that the potential adoptive parent has not previously adopted anyone, and there are no cancellations for these procedures in his regard.
- A certificate of early deprivation of the stepfather's parental rights regarding other children may be required.
A potential adoptive parent must undergo a special preparatory course program. At the end of the course, you will be issued a certificate, which is also a document and is attached to the general package.
If the adoptive parent and the child and his mother have been living together as a family for a long time, then completing the preparatory program is just a formality.
You can find out more about the list of additional documents by contacting the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.
Mother's abandonment of newborn
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for the mother of a newborn child to abandon him right in the maternity hospital, writing a “refusal” statement in the prescribed form, which is certified by the chief physician of the given medical institution or the board of guardians.
But, even with a hand-written “refusal” of the baby, the question arises whether, in order for him to be freely adopted in the future by people who will give the child care and love, it is necessary, in accordance with the current family law, to deprive such a “mother” of parental rights. The answer is clear – no, it’s not necessary.
By writing the so-called “abandonment of the child,” the “mother” thereby consents to his adoption by any potential parents who wish to take this baby.
But, writing a “refusal” from the baby, thus formalizing consent to adoption, is possible only if the mother in labor has documents confirming her identity. Otherwise, when registering a child, parents are not indicated at all.
In the case where the mother lives in a so-called “civil” marriage, and was not officially married until the birth of the baby three hundred days before she gave birth, only the mother signs the refusal.
If a woman gave birth while in a registered marriage, or was married 9 months ago before giving birth, therefore, it is considered that the child has a father. Consent in such cases is also required on his behalf.
A baby who was abandoned in a maternity hospital can be adopted at any time, without waiting “what if the mother changes her mind.”
According to Art. 121 of the RF IC, a baby left without parental care must be settled and, of course, if there are people willing to take the baby into the family, he must be adopted.
From the legal side, there are no barriers to the adoption of these babies. The mother who abandoned the newborn agrees to the adoption of the baby, as evidenced by a written statement certified by the head of the medical institution; she is not called to the court hearing when the case of adoption of the newborn is heard. A second consent is not required.
Main conditions for the procedure
After the official marriage is registered, the spouse becomes a stepfather and this gives him the rights to further adopt the child. By definition, a stepfather can perform the functions of a father (upbringing, etc.), but he does not have full parental rights.
The procedure for adopting a spouse’s child is much simpler than, for example, the process of adopting children from an orphanage or maternity hospital. However, it will take time to complete all stages.
Issues related to the interests of children are dealt with by the guardianship commission.
To adopt a spouse’s child, the following conditions must be met:
- the desire of the potential adoptive parent (stepfather);
- consent (permission) of the mother for the stepfather to adopt her child;
- full compliance of the potential adoptive parent with the requirements of Russian Legislation for adoptive parents (we talk about them in the next paragraph of this article);
- consent of the natural (blood) father.
A stepfather is a man who is officially married to the child’s mother. Cohabitation or so-called “civil marriage” do not give the right to adopt children.
If the child has reached 10 years of age, then the consent of the child is mandatory.
The interests of children are looked after by the guardianship authorities and the trustee committee, but a stepfather can only obtain the legal status of a father through the court.
The parents of the adopted child have not been identified
It is generally accepted that the parents of a child are not identified or are said to be unknown when there is no information about who the mother or father of the child is. They don’t know their first or last names.
These are mostly “foundling” children who are found abandoned in different places.
The Baby Boxes project is becoming more and more widespread. Baby boxes are special rooms for babies where any woman can leave an unwanted newborn baby anonymously, without being held accountable by law. This gives children a chance to survive and even find a new family.
When finding abandoned children, representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs draw up a protocol, an act, or issue a corresponding certificate.
These documents will become the main ones for registering abandoned children without parental consent.
Statements of parental consent for adoption are not required if the children:
- thrown, or thrown;
- found in places where military operations take place;
- children are found in places where there has been a natural disaster or other emergency.
All these events are confirmed by an act drawn up in the prescribed form by the internal affairs bodies. The mother and father of these children remain unknown.
Parents declared missing
As noted earlier, in order to adopt a child, the consent of his biological parents is required. One of the exceptions to this rule for registering adoption is the unknown absence of parents and the impossibility of obtaining consent from them.
A person is declared missing in action in court in cases where there is no information about him and the place where he may be in his last known location (residence) for more than a year.
If it is impossible to clarify the date when the latest information about the missing was received, the beginning of the period for declaring missing is considered to be the beginning of the new month after receiving news from him.
If it is not possible to clarify the month when news was last received, consider the period of disappearance from January 1 of the new year.
Is the child's consent required?
An important part of the procedure is agreeing on the design with the child himself. If he has not reached his 10th birthday, his opinion will not be heard in court. After 10 years, the child’s position will be taken into account and if there is disagreement, the man will not be able to become an adoptive parent.
Starting from the age of 14, the meeting procedure involves calling the child and hearing his opinion.
For this reason, it is so important to obtain the preliminary consent of the child, and if the spouse has several, obtain the consent of everyone who has reached the age of 10.
Incompetent parents
If the parents of the child being adopted are recognized by the court as incompetent due to mental illness, not controlling their actions, and not being aware of them, their consent to the adoption and presence in a closed court hearing on the issue of adoption of their biological child is not required by law.
It goes without saying that, due to the nature of their illness, they are not able to raise their children or give them proper care. These people cannot consciously express their desire - to give or not consent to the adoption of a child.
For these reasons, their consent is not required by law.
But, at the same time, if the child’s parents are partially limited in legal capacity by a court decision, in such cases consent to adoption is required, since they are limited only in property rights.
Features of the process depending on different situations
The procedure for adopting a spouse's child has some peculiarities. Let us consider in detail the most common situations.
If the father of such a child is alive
In this situation, the main role is played by the presence or absence of parental rights of the biological father. If the father has not died and has parental rights, then his consent is required for adoption.
If the mother is single
Many women raise their child on their own and have no connections with his legal father. At the same time, there is also no material support from him.
Single mothers are considered to be women who are raising children who, for some reason, do not have a father (died or missing).
In this case, the stepfather has the right to adopt the child without the consent of the blood (biological) father.
Parental evasion from upbringing and maintenance
When parents live with the child in different places or cities for more than six months, without a good reason, and do not take any part in the process of upbringing and financial support, consent to adoption is not required from them.
Such cases include children living with grandmothers, sisters, close and distant relatives, or in various institutions.
The mother and father do not check on the children, do not allocate money to provide them with everything they need, do not communicate with the children either by phone or by correspondence, and do not pay any attention or care.
It happens that a mother and father do not live with their children due to objective circumstances that are considered valid reasons. Such situations do not relate to their evasion of parental duty, therefore, consent in such cases is mandatory. Valid reasons include:
- being on treatment;
- being a prisoner of war during hostilities in wartime;
- being under arrest and others.
When a case is heard in court on the issue of adoption of children, all the circumstances of the parents’ separate residence from the children and their fulfillment of parental duties are investigated and taken into account.
Taking into account all the evidence, the court determines whether the reasons why parents do not raise and support children are valid or not.
Author of the article
Who can be an adoptive parent
A child can be adopted by a competent adult. The guardianship and trusteeship authority also imposes income requirements: for example, in most regions it is important that the total household income is not less than the subsistence level for each person. Without these requirements, adoption is only possible from a stepmother or stepfather. To confirm this status, you will need a marriage certificate from the child's father or mother.
What other criteria are important for the supervisory authority:
The adoption of children by disabled people, citizens with limited legal capacity, as well as persons with a criminal record or medical contraindications who live without a permanent source of income and place of residence is not allowed. The guardianship and trusteeship authority does not issue an opinion on the possibility of being an adoptive parent if the adoption or guardianship was previously canceled due to the fault of the applicant. They will not issue opinions to people in a same-sex partnership registered in another state. If several people want to adopt a child, priority will be given to a close relative (Article 127 of the RF IC).
