Adult Adoption Laws

Tip 1 - Can You Legally Adopt an Adult?

Maybe you finally found that son you've always wanted, but he just so happens to be 35. But adoption is just for babies and little kids, right? Who has a brand new daughter that's over 21? Regardless of what you think, it is both legal and possible to adopt yourself a healthy, bouncing grownup. Solidify another person's inheritance, formalize an already existing relationship or gain full responsibility for another adult's care with an adult adoption.
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Tip 2 - The Potential Consequences of Adult Adoption for Inheritance: A Recent Virginia Supreme Court Ruling

Justia columnist and Hofstra law professor Joanna Grossman comments on how adult adoption—that is, a person’s being adopted by another when that person is already an adult—affects that person’s ability to inherit from his or her original and new relatives, respectively. Grossman focuses in particular on a recent Virginia Supreme Court case in which an adult woman’s being adopted at the age of 53 meant that her niece and nephews were no longer the legal heirs of the woman’s biological sister, who had previously been their aunt. She also explains why adult adoption is typically easy: Unlike the adoption of a child, it comes with no support or other obligations so there is little, if any, court scrutiny. In addition, Grossman explains how adult adoption has been sought by members of gay couples seeking to establish a legal relationship with each other in states where gay marriage is not recognized, with mixed results: New York will not allow such adoptions, but Delaware and other states will. Grossman also describes the trusts-and-estates consequences of adult adoption, in the Virginia case and in other scenarios, and the historic development of the practice. And she reminds potential adult adoptees that while an adoption may open up new inheritance rights, it also may foreclose old ones, with the prior biological family, for the establishment of the new, adoptive family relationship typically means that the old, biological one no longer exists.

Tip 3 - Can an Adult be Adopted?

Adult adoption is a legal process the gives an adopted person a new name, a new birth certificate, and the right to be legally identified with her new family. Whether or not an adult can be adopted depends on the circumstances of the adoption and the reason for the adoption. While each state has different guidelines regarding the adult adoption process, there are some general trends and rules to follow so that your adult adoption paperwork is approved by the court without any problems.
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