What is adoption?
The word adopt means “to choose and accept as one’s own”. Adoption is a legal process, by which the legal rights and responsibilities of being a parent are transferred from a child’s parents, to the adoptive parents.
Following adoption you will become a legal member of your adoptive family:
- you will have the same rights and responsibilities as any other child in your adoptive family
- you can take, and legally use, your adoptive family’s last name
- you will have an automatic right to inherit the property of your adoptive parents, just like any other children in your adoptive family
- our adoptive parents will be able to make all the parental decisions about your upbringing
Adoption applications are sent to the Supreme Court of NSW. A judge looks at all the information and decides if you should be adopted or not. If the judge decides adoption is the best thing for you, then the judge will make what is called an adoption order.
When the adoption order is made, your original birth certificate will be filed away at the Registry and new birth certificate will be issued by NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, showing your last name same as your adoptive parents’.
Normally, birth parents of the child have to consent to adoption. However, if the child is over 12 years old and lived with the adoptive parents for few years, then only the child’s consent, subject to registered counselling and psychologist’s report, is required for the adoption order. Accordingly, the child’s wish is the paramount consideration of the court.
The following information are required:
- Full details of the birth parents
- Full details of the adoptive parents
- Assets and liability details of the adoptive parents
- Criminal and finger history check of the adoptive parents
You can always change your mind prior to the adoption order being made by the court but cannot change your mind after the adoption order. This is why the Supreme Court Application will require consent from all relevant parties.
Every adoption case is different and people have different needs. As the Supreme Court Application for Adoption requires full disclosure of all facts and further require some critical deadline for the application to be successful, Dahan Lawyers strongly recommends the applicants to seek professional legal advice of a solicitor.