Specialist legal advice for adoption cases

An Adoption Order cuts any legal ties between a birth parent and child, so that the adoptive parent(s) becomes the legal parent(s) of a child for life. Adoption Orders do not end once a child turns 18. Once an Adoption Order is made, the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages issues a post-adoptive birth certificate for the child.

An Adoption Order is made by the Family Court often because a local authority believes it is unsafe for a child to continue living at home and the Court has deemed it in the child’s best interests to be adopted.

To be adopted, a child must:

Be under the age of 18 when an adoption application is made (adoption proceedings may continue beyond the young person’s 18th birthday since an Adoption Order can be made at any time up to the 19th birthday)

Not be (or have been) married or in a civil partnership

Official government documents state that an Adoption Order can take four weeks to process once the General Register Office receives the Order from the Court. It can take the Court up to three weeks to send an Adoption Order to the General Register Office.

The Court will consider a number of things when assessing an application for adoption. These include:

The child’s age, sex, background, and relevant characteristics

The child’s relationship with you, the parent, and other existing relatives

For another couple (or person) to adopt your child, you normally have to agree to it. However, a Court can decide the adoption can go ahead without your consent if:

You cannot be found

You are incapable of giving consent, for example due to mental disability

The Court thinks the child would be at risk if they were not adopted

Before a child is adopted, they will spend some time living with the prospective adopters. This is known as a Placement Order. Parents can apply to revoke a Placement Order in certain circumstances.

In addition, if an application is made for an Adoption Order, you can apply to the Court for ‘leave’. While there is the opportunity for you to regain custody of your child, this will only be considered if there is a significant change in circumstances since the making of the Placement Order.

An adoption cannot be reserved once the order has been granted, except in very rare circumstances.