Cancellation of the adoption of a child: grounds and consequences, alimony, claim

People to whom God has not given children of their own often think about adopting one or more children.

Such couples most often find out whether there is an age limit for adoption and whether it is possible to adopt a child from the maternity hospital?

But in addition to the desire to hold a newborn baby in their arms, future parents must consciously take into account their physical and moral reserves, because the fate of the baby depends on their choice.

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What is adoption

According to Art. 124 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, adoption is a priority form of placement for children deprived of care from biological parents. It is a legal act as a result of which a child acquires a new family. The main feature is the legal consequences of adoption: as a result, legal ties characteristic of blood relatives arise between children and newly made adoptive parents.

Simply put, for the law, such children and parents become a full-fledged family - they inherit from each other, they have mutual property responsibilities, and the parents have the right to change their personal data and even the date and place of birth of their children.

Those who were able to decide to adopt should know that the legal ties being established will affect not only them and the child, but also their blood relatives, who will acquire the corresponding rights and obligations, as well as the future offspring of the adopted children. At the same time, the legislator establishes a number of restrictions for candidates for parents.

The publication “Adoption” will help you learn about the goals and other aspects of this procedure.

Who is an adoptive parent

An adoptive parent is considered to be a person who took a child into the family for upbringing and has since been equal in rights and responsibilities to a natural parent. According to Art. 127 of the RF IC, the main condition for adoption is that the adoptive parent reaches the age of 18 years. In addition, the legislator requires the adoptive parent to have full legal capacity.

The law does not establish gender restrictions: both women and men can become candidates. Moreover, married couples can also become like this in relation to one child. However, if a man and a woman are not in a marital relationship, they will not be able to adopt the same child.

Along with this Art. 127 of the RF IC determines the list of those who cannot adopt a child. Among them, the legislator includes:

incapacitated persons with limited legal capacity and their spouses;
persons deprived of the rights of parents or guardians;
former adoptive parents deprived of their status due to their fault;
persons who are unable to be adoptive parents due to illness included in the list approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2013 No. 117;
persons who do not have adequate income or permanent residence;
persons with a criminal record for sexual crimes, crimes against life and freedom, against honor and dignity, as well as other grave and especially grave crimes;
persons in same-sex marriages and single citizens of countries where such marriages are legalized.

It is noteworthy that, according to Part 5 of Art. 127 of the RF IC, if there are several candidates wishing to formalize adoption of the same child, preference is given to his relatives, if this does not contradict the interests of the child.

Cancellation of adoption and payment by former adoptive parents of funds for child support

In accordance with Art. 143 of the RF IC, the court has the right to oblige the adoptive parents to pay funds for the maintenance of the child (alimony).

The court makes such a decision not because the issue of canceling the adoption is being considered, but it is based solely on the interests of the child and is guided by the need to provide for the child in the future.

Alimony can be prescribed by the court either as a share of the adoptive parent’s earnings (income) or as a fixed sum of money.

In this case, the amount of a fixed sum of money is determined by the court based on the possible preservation of the child’s previous level of support, taking into account the financial and marital status of the parties and other noteworthy circumstances (Articles 81, 83 of the RF IC).

Requirements for an adoptive parent

These are not the only restrictions that foster parent candidates will have to face. The provisions of Chapter 19 of the RF IC and the “Rules for the transfer of children for adoption”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 29, 2000 No. 275, establish the requirements for the adoption of a child:

whether the potential adoptive parent has living space and the financial ability to support the adopted child;
compliance of housing with sanitary and housing standards established by law;
satisfactory state of health for maintaining and caring for the child;
no criminal record;
the presence of non-verbal contact with the child, the emergence of related feelings towards him;
completion of mandatory psychological, pedagogical and legal training;
absence of obstacles provided for in Art. 127 RF IC.

Please note that the adoption procedure is carried out with the personal participation of the candidate. However, according to Art. 126.1 of the RF IC, mandatory personal participation does not deprive the potential adoptive parent of the right to have a representative or translator.

Grounds for cancellation of adoption

The grounds for cancellation of adoption are established by Art. 141 of the RF IC, these may be:

evasion of parental responsibilities,
abuse of parental rights,
abuse of an adopted child,
the presence of chronic diseases of alcoholism or drug addiction.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation also expanded the list of grounds for canceling adoption, in which there is no fault of the adoptive parent:

if the relationships necessary for the normal development and upbringing of the child have not developed,
lack of mutual understanding due to the personal qualities of the parties,
the child’s lack of a sense of family,
identification after adoption of mental disability or hereditary abnormalities in the child’s health.

Terms of adoption

In fact, the main condition for adoption is the compliance of the potential adoptive parent with the requirements of the law, in particular, Art. 127 RF IC. In addition, we must not forget about the difference in age with the adoptee, which, according to Art. 128 of the RF IC, must be at least 16 years old. This rule does not apply in cases where the stepfather or stepmother is the adoptive parent. In addition, for good reasons, the court may find such a requirement irrelevant, for example, if the child is convinced that the adoptive parent is the natural parent or has a strong attachment to him.

As established by Art. 123 of the RF IC, the legislator allows adoption taking into account ethnic origin, cultural and religious affiliation, native language, as well as the ability to ensure the child’s preservation of traditions in upbringing and education. According to Art. 124 of the RF IC, adoption is carried out only if the interests of the children are respected, taking into account the ability of the new parent to provide the child with full physical, mental and cultural development.

The main condition for the transfer of brothers and sisters to the family is their joint adoption.

Their separation and transfer to different families is allowed only if the interests of the children require it: for example, they have never known each other or one of the children is seriously ill.

What is required from future parents

If a couple or one of the parents decides to take a child from an orphanage or orphanage, they should be aware of the existing restrictions:

Adoptive parents must be adults and have legal capacity.
Preference in adoption is given to married couples, although single persons have the right to become parents and adopt a child.
The level of earnings of persons wishing to become adoptive parents must exceed the minimum subsistence level established in the given region.
The living conditions of the adoptive parent must comply with accepted standards and not worsen the situation of the adoptee.
Each adoptive parent is required to take foster parenting courses or participate in the “guest visit” program.
The age of a citizen who has collected documents for the adoption of a child in 2021 must exceed the age of the person being adopted by at least 16 years.

Exceptions regarding the age limit are allowed in a number of situations. For example, the age difference will not matter if the child is adopted by a stepmother or stepfather.

Who can be adopted

No matter how strong the parents’ desire, it is not possible to adopt every child, but only children under the age of 18 who are not under parental care for the following reasons:

Both or only parents died before the child reached adulthood.
The only or both parents, in accordance with a court decision, are deprived of rights to a minor child.
One or both parents have been declared missing by a court decision, or there is a court decision declaring them dead.
If one or both parents are declared incompetent in accordance with the conclusion of a health care institution.
If for more than six months the parent does not live with the child and does not participate in his upbringing in any way for reasons that are not valid.

There is also a rule that siblings are not separated during adoption, but are adopted together. The only exceptions will be brothers and sisters who were not raised and did not live together before or did not know anything about each other’s existence.

How to find a child for adoption

According to paragraph 7 of the above Rules, informing citizens who wish to adopt a child about children who are left without parental care, about possible forms of family arrangement, as well as counseling on other issues is carried out by the guardianship authorities. According to clause 10 of the Rules, information about children is provided by the guardianship authorities only after registration as a potential adoptive parent. Therefore, those who are interested in where to start adopting children in Russia should understand that before searching for a child, you first need to go through the registration procedure.

The basis for obtaining information about children subject to adoption at the candidate’s place of residence will be an application with a request to select a child, as well as a conclusion on the possibility of becoming an adoptive parent. If these documents are available, the guardianship authority issues the necessary information, as well as a referral to visit a specific child.

If the selection could not be made at the place of residence, the candidate has the right to contact other guardianship authorities, regardless of territorial affiliation, as well as regional or state operators of a data bank about children. The relevant operator will review the application within ten days and provide the necessary information about the children, taking into account the applicant’s preferences. Subsequently, the applicant is given a referral to visit the child of his choice.

Please note that if a citizen refuses to raise the chosen child, he is sent to other children deprived of care.

Moreover, if the data bank does not contain information about children whom the adoptive parent would like to accept into the family for upbringing, he may ask to continue the search. In this case, once a month the corresponding operator will provide him with information about new profiles of interest to him.

Data bank about children

The State Data Bank on Children Deprived of Parental Care, in accordance with Federal Law No. 44 of April 16, 2001 “On the State Data Bank on Children Without Parental Care,” is a state information database formed from regional databases: it contains a list of questionnaires for orphans and children equivalent to them who can be adopted into families.

The rules for obtaining and using the information contained in the bank are determined by the Procedure approved by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated February 17, 2015 No. 101.

Citizens can receive the information they are interested in from the regional operator, whose functions are performed by the executive body of the subject of the federation (the ministry of the regional government), or from the federal operator - the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.

Adoptive Parents Database

Information about orphans and children left without parental care is contained in the Federal Data Bank; since 2013, the Russian authorities intend to create a separate Federal Data Bank of Adoptive Parents, which, by analogy with the children's database, will contain all the necessary data about adoptive parents, but so far everything is at the stage intentions.

Now candidates for adoptive parents can familiarize themselves with the profiles of children that are available in the Federal Bank. However, to do this, the potential adoptive parent will first need to obtain a special document from the guardianship and trusteeship authority. adoption permit - a conclusion on the possibility of being an adoptive parent.

Foreigners, stateless persons and Russians not residing in Russia, if they wish to adopt a child with Russian citizenship, must contact the regional or federal operator of the state database of children.

Features of adoption

In fact, the law establishes general rules for the adoption of a healthy child, as well as a child with any diseases (regardless of age). However, depending on where the potential adoptee is kept, the age restrictions chosen by the parents, as well as the personality of the adoptive parent himself, some features of this procedure may arise. In some cases, this may be expressed in the form of additional requirements for adoptive parents or a special procedure for selecting a child. We propose to consider the most typical cases.

From the maternity hospital

Interested in how the adoption of a baby occurs in 2021, many prefer to adopt a child directly from the maternity hospital, that is, take a so-called refusenik into the family. The fact is that the law does not prohibit such a procedure, but it is unlikely that it will be possible to take the child directly from the maternity hospital.

This is due to procedural issues: as soon as the mother who gave birth to the child abandons him, the head of the medical institution must draw up an act on leaving the child in the maternity hospital, prepare all the necessary documents and, according to Part 2 of Art. 122 of the RF IC, send them to local guardianship authorities within three days. They, in turn, make a decision on the temporary transfer of the child to a children's hospital, which will draw up further documents and medical reports for the child.

And only after moving to the hospital for temporary care, potential adoptive parents are allowed to see the children from a queue previously formed by the guardianship authorities for refuseniks. Therefore, firstly, children leave the maternity hospital before they have time to be adopted, and secondly, in order to adopt an infant, you need to inform the guardianship authorities in advance about your desire and coordinate further actions with them.

An article entitled “How to adopt a child from a maternity hospital” will help you learn more about this procedure.

From the Baby House

Small children whose age does not exceed three years come to the Children's Home (or Baby Home). That is, all children who were not adopted or taken into care after the maternity hospital, as well as children under 3 years of age who were deprived of parental care.

Anyone who wants to adopt a child under three years of age can adopt a child from an orphanage. Candidate parents can express such a desire to the guardianship council at their place of residence. The Council, according to the application for adoption of a child, issues a referral to the appropriate Orphanage to visit the child.

An article entitled “How to adopt a child from an orphanage” will help you learn more about this.

Adoption from an orphanage

In orphanages there are children aged from 3 to 18 years. People for whom the main role is played by the child’s appearance and resemblance to the adoptive parents, developed character and other characteristics that appear at a later age are motivated to take such a child. The first step is to notify the guardianship authorities about the desire to take into the family just such a child - the official will provide the necessary information about the children of interest, and will also issue a document for a visit to the child.

The publication entitled “How to Adopt a Child from an Orphanage” will tell you how to do this.

Adoption procedure for foreign citizens

The grounds and procedure for the adoption of children who are citizens of the Russian Federation by foreign citizens are determined by the provisions of Art. 165 RF IC. According to it, the transfer of Russian children to foreign families is carried out with some peculiarities. In particular, adoption is carried out in accordance with the legislation of the state of nationality of the adoptive parent.

But, despite this, in this process the legislator requires compliance with the requirements for:

the identities of children who may be adopted;
to the adoptive parents themselves;
the procedure for adoption established by Art. 125 RF IC;
differences in age and conditions of consent of interested parties.

In particular, according to Part 4 of Art. 124 of the RF IC, the law allows adoption into foreign families only of those children who cannot be transferred to Russian families or their relatives for upbringing. In this context, Russian children can be handed over to foreigners for upbringing only after the expiration of a 12-month period from the moment information about them entered the State Data Bank on Orphans.

Foreigners can adopt a boy or girl by contacting the Russian authorities either independently or through specialized bodies and organizations authorized to adopt children by the state of nationality of the adoptive parent.

To accept a child into a family, a foreign citizen will have to undergo all preparations and medical examinations, as well as legalize and translate all necessary documents. In addition, in contrast to adoption by Russians, legal proceedings in cases of adoption with the participation of foreigners, in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 269 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, is conducted not by courts of general jurisdiction, but by the supreme courts of the constituent entities of the federation.

Please note that the legislator has defined a number of other restrictions, in particular, there is a ban on the adoption of Russian children:

US citizens, in accordance with Federal Law No. 272 of December 28, 2012 “On measures of influence on persons involved in violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms”;
persons in same-sex marriage;
single citizens of countries where same-sex marriage is recognized by the state as an official marriage union.

You can find out more about this issue in the publication “Adoption of Russian Children by Foreign Citizens.”

For single mothers

In fact, the legislator does not introduce any restrictions for candidates for adoptive parents based on marital status - both married and single citizens can be adoptive parents. Therefore, a single woman, like a single man, may well take in a child.

However, in this case, it cannot be ruled out that their personality will attract much more attention from the guardianship authorities, who in this case more carefully check the motives for adoption, financial and family status, living conditions, and so on. Otherwise, the procedure for adopting children by single mothers is identical to adoption by married couples.

An article entitled “Can a single woman adopt a child” will help you learn more about this topic.

Stepfather

Situations often arise when, as a result of marriage and subsequent family relationships, men who are stepfathers have a desire to adopt their wife’s child. Since a child cannot have more than two parents, a stepfather can adopt a child only if the biological father agrees, his parental rights are deprived, or his parental rights are absent. In this case, the marriage of the potential adoptive parent and the child’s mother must be officially registered. In addition, consent will be required from the wife. Otherwise, adoption by a stepfather follows the general rules.

The publication “Adopting a Wife’s Child” will help you learn more about this.

Biological father

On the question of how to adopt a child from a common-law wife, the legislator provides alternative options. The possibility of adoption of a child who has at least one parent who cares for him, by a person who is not married to such a parent, is excluded. However, if such paternity has not been established since the birth of the child, and there is a dash instead of the father on the birth certificate, cohabitants, if the man is the father of the child, can carry out the procedure for establishing paternity.

This procedure allows the father to adopt his own child much faster and easier. So, according to Art. 48 of the RF IC, to establish paternity, a joint statement from cohabitants, as well as personal appearance at the registry office, is sufficient. After the registration authority makes changes to the civil status act, the man becomes the father of the child and assumes all the rights and responsibilities of the parent, even if he is not in fact one.

In fact, adoption by a biological father makes no sense at all, since it is much easier to establish paternity even without the consent of the child’s mother - by a court decision, or in the absence of the mother - by agreement with the guardianship authorities or the court.

Adoptive parent's age

At what age can you adopt a child?
Currently, Russian legislation does not stipulate age restrictions for both adoptive parents and children. But in addition to regulatory and legislative norms, the laws of ethics, logic and psychology have not yet been repealed.

After all, before adopting a child, adoptive parents should realistically assess their capabilities. The hardest part of adoption is the physical exertion, which usually involves carrying the baby in your arms.

No matter how much foster parents optimize their life with modern gadgets for small children, they will still have to get up at night to see the baby. In addition, not picking up a child if he has a toothache or if he is scared is bad behavior. Therefore, when deciding to adopt, you should remember that it is not always enough to just be there. The baby has the right to feel the hugs and warmth of his mother, to sit comfortably in her arms.

Over time, emotional and moral stress is added to physical activity. After all, everyone knows that a small child sleeps restlessly, sometimes for only a few hours, constantly interrupting for food.

And older children, after severe emotional upheavals (and children from the orphanage have a lot of such), may have trouble sleeping at night.

Therefore, a new mother often does not manage to get a full night's sleep. As a result, monotonous days, which alternate with lack of sleep, are exhausting and make you wonder why she needs a child.

Before taking such a serious step, future parents should seriously weigh their physical and moral capabilities.

Minimum age

Photo 4

An adoptive family should be no different from a biologically related family. The rights and responsibilities of adoptive and natural parents are also the same. This rule formed the basis of laws regarding guardianship and trusteeship adopted in the Russian Federation.

At the moment, there is only a restriction on the lower age threshold for adoptive parents. At what age can you adopt a child?

Only an adult who has a means of subsistence can adopt a child.

That is, the future parent must be 18 years old at the time of adoption and must have a permanent income (official job with regular pension contributions) to provide for the future family.

Maximum age

Now let's move on to the question of what age you can adopt a child. The maximum age up to which you can adopt a child is not prescribed at the state level.

But guardianship authorities rarely give children up for adoption to parents over 45-50 years old.

This is due primarily to the biological aspect. There are exceptions, of course, but older parents should realistically assess their physical capabilities before taking a child.

Reasons why guardianship authorities may refuse to adopt a child for elderly people:

elderly parents should be clearly aware of how good their health is. After all, the time frame for adopting a child is not limited, and if the guardian is ill, the child may again find himself without support and protection, and in the event of the death of the guardian, he may again find himself an orphan;
financial condition of future parents. Will parents be able to provide for the growing needs of a teenager after retirement? In the event of a conflict with a teenager, will they be able to provide him with a separate living space;
support of close relatives or friends of new parents in the idea of adopting a baby. After all, sometimes even the most loving parent needs to leave home and leave the baby;
a large difference in the age of the adoptive parent and the adopted child can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings against the background of interests and entertainment.

And the last, decisive factor that people who decide to take a child after 40 should think about is habit. Over many years of living together without a child, a married couple has its own established habits and foundations. A small child’s appearance brings chaos into the life of such a family: toys scattered throughout the apartment and untidy clothes can cause constant scandals and cause a struggle for established “bachelor” habits.

To ensure that the age difference between the adoptive parent and the adopted child is not so noticeable, guardianship authorities advise older parents to take a closer look at older children, for example 5-7 years. And leave the baby to a younger family.

Adoption procedure

The full adoption procedure involves several mandatory steps for candidate parents. Thus, the procedure for adoption is primarily determined by the provisions of Art. 125 of the RF IC, supplemented by Chapter 29 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and specified by the Rules approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 29, 2000 No. 275.

Stages of child adoption, according to the specified documents:

Contacting the guardianship authorities with an application and a list of necessary documents.
Passing a survey of living conditions and checking the documents provided.
Obtaining a conclusion on the right to adopt a child and registration.
Selecting a child, getting to know him and building relationships.
Submitting an application for adoption to the court.
Consideration in a closed court session of a case on establishing an adoption.
Post-trial clearance.

Each of these stages has many features, the most important of which we will try to consider below.

Adoption priority

As we remember, according to Art. 124 of the RF IC, adoption is a priority form of care for orphans. Thus, it takes precedence over custody. Simply put, if several families want to foster one child at once, preference will be given to the one that is ready to adopt him.

If applicants wish to adopt a child already in care, they must obtain the consent of the child's guardians. However, such children are most often deregistered and are not offered to candidates for adoption.

Where to contact first

Following clause 6 of the “Rules for the transfer of children for adoption”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 29, 2000 No. 275, Russian citizens who wish to adopt a child into a family for upbringing must contact the guardianship authority at their place of residence. The appeal is issued in the form of an application with a request to issue an appropriate conclusion.

The guardianship authorities will explain to the applicant where and how you can adopt a child under one year old, tell you about a specific list of necessary documents, and also explain other important aspects for the applicant.

Package of documents

According to clause 6 of the above Rules, along with the application, the candidate for adoptive parents submits to the guardianship authorities a list of documents, including:

a short autobiography;
a copy of an identity document;
employment certificate indicating income level;
document confirming the use or ownership of residential real estate;
a police certificate confirming no criminal record;
conclusion of a medical institution on health status;
a copy of the marriage certificate;
a copy of the document confirming completion of special training.

In order to correctly complete the application, you need to remember that all documents are valid and accepted by the guardianship authorities within a year from the date of their issuance, and only a medical report is valid for six months.

A publication entitled “What documents are needed to adopt a child” will help you learn more about this.

Consent to adoption

One of the main conditions for adoption is obtaining a number of consents from interested parties. The list of persons whose consent is required when adopting a child is determined by the provisions of Art. Art. 129-133 RF IC. These include:

Guardians, trustees, as well as heads of organizations in which children are kept. Their consent is in writing and may not be required in the best interests of the child.
Biological parents of the child. Their consent is mandatory, except in cases where they are incapacitated, deprived of parental rights, missing, or evading raising a child. Parents can give consent to adoption either to a specific person or without his or her indication.
The adoptees themselves. Such consent will be required from the child if he has reached the age of ten. The exception is when the child already recognizes the adoptive parent as a parent.
Spouses of adoptive parents. Their consent will be required in cases where only one spouse becomes a parent. It will not be required if the spouses have not lived together for more than a year and the location of the other is unknown.

The article “Consent to Adoption” will help you learn more about this.

Consent of guardianship authorities

To be precise, the consent of the guardianship authorities is expressed in the issuance of a conclusion on the possibility of being an adoptive parent. In this way, officials determine which adoptions are not allowed and which are possible.

The conclusion is issued based on an examination of living conditions, as well as on the basis of an inspection of the documents provided by the applicant. The results of this examination are documented in an act of the guardianship authorities, which is drawn up within three days and sent to the applicant.

On its basis, as well as on the basis of the submitted documents, the guardianship authority has the right to issue a conclusion on the possibility of being an adoptive parent, which, according to paragraph. 8 clause 9 of the above Rules, is issued within ten days from the date of submission of documents.

Meeting the child

The above conclusion of the guardianship authorities is the basis for registering a citizen. After this, he has the right to receive information about children whom he can adopt in accordance with his preferences. Having selected a suitable child, the applicant receives a referral to visit him. This direction is valid for 10 days. The applicant is obliged:

personally visit the child and find an approach to him;
get acquainted with documents from his personal file;
Confirm in writing that you have read the baby’s health documents. In this case, the adoptive parent has the right to send the child for an independent medical examination.

Trial

With a positive conclusion from the guardianship authority and the selection of a suitable child, the final decision on adoption, in accordance with Art. 125 of the RF IC, is pronounced by the court in civil proceedings, as a special proceeding. In this case, the guardianship authority is obliged to provide the court with an opinion on the validity of the adoption, as well as its compliance with the interests of the child. Since this process has some peculiarities, we suggest considering the key points in more detail.

Which court makes the decision?

According to Art. 269 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, adoption cases are considered by district courts at the place of residence of the potential parent or the location of the child. Courts of general jurisdiction have jurisdiction over disputes in adoption cases both in cases where the applicants are Russians and in cases of foreigners or stateless persons. However, when the latter apply, adoption cases are considered by the supreme courts of the constituent entities of the federation.

Submitting an application

According to Art. 125 of the RF IC, consideration of adoption cases is carried out on the basis of applications submitted by candidates for adoptive parents. In accordance with Art. 270 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, such a statement must contain:

personal data and place of residence of candidates;
personal data of the adoptee, his place of residence, information about parents, as well as brothers and/or sisters;
circumstances justifying the request of the adoptive parents, and documents confirming these circumstances;
requests to change the child’s personal data: assigning a new last name, changing the date and place of birth, and so on.

Please note that an application for adoption of a citizen of the Russian Federation by a citizen of the Russian Federation is considered with the mandatory participation of the applicants themselves, representatives of the guardianship authorities, the prosecutor, a child over 14 years of age, as well as blood parents and other interested parties, if the situation so requires.

Package of documents

The documents that candidates must submit are determined by the provisions of Art. 271 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. In essence, they repeat the list of documents that the candidate submits to the guardianship authorities, with some features. So, in addition to them, the applicant will need:

birth certificate (for singles);
marriage certificate (for married people);
document confirming registration;
consent from the spouse.

These documents are provided in two copies.

Duration and result of consideration

As a general rule, adoption cases are considered within 2 months from the date of filing the application. Upon application for the adoption of a child, the court makes a decision on adoption or refusal of such adoption. The court can also partially satisfy the requests of the adoptive parents by transferring the child to the family, but refusing to change personal data. The decision can be appealed to the appellate authority within 10 days from the date of its adoption.

Post-trial registration

According to Art. 125 of the RF IC, adoption is subject to state registration at the place of the decision or at the place of residence of the parents. The basis for such registration is a court decision and a statement of the newly made parents, expressed in writing or orally. At the same time, they provide identification documents.

If such an application is not received from the parents, registration is carried out by the registry office independently, on the basis of a court decision previously sent to it. After this, the parents are issued a child’s birth certificate with the data changed or left unchanged.

According to paragraph 20 of the above Rules, adoptive parents are obliged to personally pick up the child from the place of his detention, presenting a court decision and a passport.

The Mystery of Adoption

Please note that, according to Art. 139 of the RF IC, the secrecy of adoption is protected by law. It means a ban on disclosing information about a specific adoption, which became known to officials of the guardianship authorities, the prosecutor's office, medical institutions, and so on. For their disclosure without parental consent, criminal and administrative liability is provided.

As measures to ensure the secrecy of adoption, the law grants adoptive parents the right to change the child’s last name, first name and patronymic, place and date of birth, as well as records of parents in civil status acts. The exercise of such a right is possible at the post-trial stage, subject to a corresponding court decision.

An article entitled “The Mystery of Adoption” will help you learn more about this.

Rights and obligations of adoptive parents and adopted children

As established by Art. 137 of the RF IC, adopted children and their children, as well as adoptive parents and their relatives are equal in their rights and responsibilities to blood relatives. This means that adopted children and adoptive parents are equal in rights and responsibilities to natural children and parents. That is, children have rights established by Chapter 11 of the RF IC, and parents have rights and obligations established by Chapter 12 of the RF IC. According to paragraph 19 of the above Rules, the rights and obligations of the adoptive parent and adopted child arise from the day when the judicial act comes into force.

Rights of adoptive citizens

The rights and obligations of adoptive parents arise for adoptive parents even before the court decision acquires legal force and in fact they are no different from parental ones, since the emerging relationships are akin to parental ones.

The basic rights and obligations of adoptive parents, as well as parents, are provided for in Article 68 of the IC of Russia.

The adoptive parent is obliged, first of all, to raise the child and take care of his health, both physical and mental, moral development, education, etc.

The rights of the adoptive parent are:

Advantage in raising an adopted child over other relatives and third parties. However, the adoptive parent does not have the right to limit the child’s communication with other close relatives.
Represent and protect the interests of the adopted person without any permission document.
Demand the return of the adopted child if any of the persons illegally detains him;
Be a representative when performing legally significant actions in the interests of a minor;

There are also situations when the rights of the adoptive parent may be limited by the guardianship and trusteeship authority in the interests of the child:

If a conflict of interests arises between the interests of the adopted child and the adoptive parent, the adoptive parent is removed from representing the interests of the minor.

Despite the transfer of parental rights to the adoptive parent, government agencies will continue to monitor adopted children in their new families and whether the adoptive parent meets all criteria for a long time.

The state provides support to adoptive parents, which is provided on an equal basis with biological parents, i.e. adoptive parents can take part in the same state social programs as parents. Adoption of an infant gives the adoptive parent the right to child care benefits, etc. The situation is similar with maternity capital if the adoptive parents decide to adopt a second child.

Against the backdrop of the existence of such holidays as “Mother’s Day” and “Children’s Day,” the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation came up with a proposal to introduce the holiday “Adoptive Parent’s Day,” believing that such an innovation would raise the prestige of an already good cause. However, from 2006 to this day no such decision has been made.

Payments and benefits

Depending on the specifics of the situation, adoptive parents may have the right to receive:

One-time benefit when transferring a child to a family. The right to it and its amount are determined by Art. 12.1 of the Federal Law of May 19, 1995 No. 81 “On state benefits for citizens with children.” Taking into account indexation in 2021, its size is 16.35 thousand rubles.
Maternity benefits. It is paid to adoptive parents until the child reaches 70 days from the date of birth (110 days when adopting two or more children) in the amount of 100% of the average earnings, subject to maternity leave.
Monthly child care allowance. Appointed in relation to adoptive parents of children who have not reached the age of one and a half years. Its size is 40% of average earnings.
Maternity capital. The right to it arises for persons who have taken a second and subsequent children into the family. The capital is given as a lump sum and can be spent by parents to purchase real estate, form pension savings and other targeted expenses. Its size is 453 thousand rubles.

The law may also establish other payments, the article “Benefits for an adopted child” will help you learn more about them.