Author of the article: Anastasia Ivanova Last modified: January 2021 6207

Guardianship authorities help ensure that children left without parental care find a new family. It is for this purpose that the state provides a procedure for the adoption of orphans. There are situations when a romantic relationship develops between a foster parent and a ward. The question arises: is marriage possible between adoptive parents and an adopted child? From a moral point of view, such a union is allowed, since the lovers are not relatives to each other. However, the Family Code of the Russian Federation lists the reasons why such relationships will not be officially registered.

Conditions for registering marriages

The civil registry office is the body charged with registering family relationships between citizens of the Russian Federation. Before the wedding ceremony, the couple submits an application to formalize their union. At this stage, civil registry office employees carefully study the data of citizens in order to prevent marriage between certain categories of persons.

In Russia there is a ban on creating a family between the following citizens:

• Married to other people;
• Adoptive parents and adopted children;
• Incapacitated;
• Blood relatives.

When submitting an application to the registry office, most likely future spouses will be denied registration of the relationship. There are “loopholes” in Family Law that can be used to circumvent the ban on such marriages. It is worth noting that in addition to the reasons listed above, you need to remember the following:

• The decision to marry must be mutual and voluntary;
• The people in the couple have reached the age of majority and are legally capable.

There are good reasons why a union can be registered starting from the age of 16. For example, the basis for early marriage is the woman’s pregnancy.

When can the law be circumvented?

It will be impossible for an adoptive parent to marry an adopted child at the registry office as long as the adoption paper is valid. When it is annulled, two people become ordinary citizens of Russia without blood ties, and the ban on marriage no longer exists.

Important! It is impossible to dissolve a blood relationship, even if the parents are deprived of their rights, they remain financially obligated to their offspring until the latter are adopted. With adoption everything is simpler, it can be terminated and the only problem that remains is the ethical side of the matter.

There are no direct instructions in the RF IC according to which the adoption procedure can be declared invalid. Any incident can happen in the adoptive family, in which it will be impossible to maintain the previous legal and family relationships.

To become free from the responsibilities of an adoptive parent, you need to:

• file a lawsuit to terminate the document; only in court can the adoption be annulled;
• the presence of the POO is mandatory; a lawsuit can be initiated by them, and not necessarily by the adoptive parent;
• to declare that the desire to continue to fulfill the duties of a parent has dried up, the law cannot oblige the adoptive parent to be one, only voluntary consent.

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Say goodbye to unofficial income... That is, the main principle of adoption is voluntariness. If it is not there, the court has no right to prevent the termination of the contract, especially if we are talking about an older child who has reached marriageable age.

There are no requirements to indicate in detail in the claim the reason for the annulment of the adoption agreement. However, in order not to focus on the absence of a reason, but rather on its presence - the desire to marry an adopted child, it is worth pointing out neutral points. They may be changes in financial situation, health, the emergence of conflict situations, etc.

For more detailed information, it is better to contact a lawyer personally who specializes in such cases. He will tell you how to conduct a court hearing with minimal moral losses for the adoptive parent and the adopted child.

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Why are marriages between adoptive parents and their wards prohibited?

In our country, adopted children, along with their own children, are considered relatives of their adoptive parents. After a guardian accepts someone else’s child into his own family and commits to the state to support and raise him, their relationship acquires the status of family. This connection is expressed in the following aspects:

• In the future, if the adopted child gives birth to children, they will be officially recognized as natural grandchildren to the adoptive parent;
• The law provides for the secrecy of adoption. When transferring a child to a foster family, his data in the documents is changed to those that could be in the case of a blood relationship with the guardians (last name, patronymic, registration). In addition, employees of the educational institution and other participants in the process sign a document on non-disclosure of the secrecy of adoption;
• Relationships between natural and adopted children are established as between blood relatives. The biological mother and father cannot legally communicate with their offspring under the care of other parents. Also, they do not know the new address of their adopted children;
• In the event of the death of one of the guardians, the adopted child will claim the inheritance. He is endowed with the same property rights as the blood relatives of the adoptive parent;
• Once adopted by a new family, the child will not be able to receive child support from his biological parents. Any connections, including responsibilities, between them are interrupted.

Expert commentary

Kamensky Yuri

Lawyer

Thus, the adopted child becomes a full member of the family, both legally and morally. Family law protects these relationships and equates them to blood ties. The listed facts explain why marriage between adoptive parents and adopted children is prohibited in the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that the child was not born to the guardians, according to the law he is a close relative to them.

There are cases when the guardian and ward try to deceive the registry office and conceal the fact of adoption. However, such behavior can lead to serious consequences. An illegally registered union will be dissolved, and citizens will be prosecuted.

How to conclude a marriage between a guardian and an adopted person?

It has long been known that marriages between blood relatives are prohibited in most countries.
The basis for this was numerous studies and conclusions of doctors. It has been proven that children born from consanguineous parents are susceptible to serious diseases and various pathologies. In the case of marriages between guardians and adopted children, the prohibition is only formal. Such unions do not pose any threat to the future generation. Adoption is a reversible process; the law allows the dissolution of family ties between people.

Before canceling the procedure, you need to pay attention to the following features:

• Only the court makes a decision to relieve the guardian of the responsibilities for raising and maintaining the adopted child;
• Both the guardian and the adopted child (provided that he is over 18 years old) can file a claim to cancel the adoption;
• Both parties are invited to participate in the court hearing;
• The prosecutor participates in the judicial process as a person monitoring compliance with the law.

A citizen, by his own decision, adopts a child. Other people cannot influence his choice. Therefore, no one has the right to force him to be a foster parent. The guardian may apply to the court to cancel the adoption procedure.

The claim states the following grounds::

• Difficult financial situation due to which a person cannot support an adopted child;
• Poor relationship between guardian and ward;
• The cancellation of an adoption is a mutual decision between the two parties;
• The adoptive parent has health problems, is declared incompetent, or has received a disability.

Whatever the reason, the claims must be satisfied by the court. After the decision is made, all obligations between the guardian and the ward are severed.

The following persons can apply to court to cancel an adoption:

• Representative of the prosecutor's office;
• Guardianship officer;
• An adopted citizen who is 18 years old;
• Adoptive parent.

Expert commentary

Gorchakov Vladimir

Lawyer

Cancellation of the adoption procedure will allow the former guardian and ward to register the marriage.

Documents for persons wishing to become adoptive parents

Where to start the adoption procedure? Of course, with a statement.

Citizens of the Russian Federation who wish to adopt a child submit an application to the guardianship and trusteeship authority located at their place of residence with a request to issue a conclusion on the possibility for them to become adoptive parents, attaching a package of documents, including:

• copy of passport;
• a short autobiography;
• certificate and reference from the place of work;
• a copy of the income statement;
• a copy of the financial personal account;
• an extract from the house register;
• document on the ownership of the living space;
• certificate of no criminal record;
• medical report on health status, issued in accordance with the procedure established by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation;
• a copy of the marriage certificate.

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The documents specified in subparagraphs 3-5 are valid for 1 year from the date of issue, and the medical report is valid for 3 months.

A negative conclusion and refusal to register is brought to the attention of the applicant within 5 days from the date of its signing. All submitted documents are returned to the applicant and the procedure for possible appeal of the decision is explained.

After issuing a positive conclusion and registration, an employee of the guardianship authority provides candidates with information about the child (children) who is subject to adoption and issues a referral to visit the child (children) at his (their) location.

To gain access to the database of children left without parents, the candidate presents the operator with a passport and provides:

1. Statement of desire to adopt a child.
2. A completed application form of a citizen candidate for acquiring the status of an adoptive parent.
3. Information about the child whom the potential parent would like to adopt.
4. Conclusion of the guardianship authority.

The operator reviews the application and documents within 10 days from the date of receipt and, upon approval of the application, issues him a referral to visit this child.

If a citizen refuses to accept a child proposed to him, he has the right to receive approval to meet another child of his choice.

Next, the potential parent needs to write an application to the judicial authorities at the location of the child with a request for his adoption.

This application must indicate:

1. Full name and place of residence of the adoptive parents.
2. Personal data of the child, information about his parents, whether he has brothers and sisters.
3. Circumstances justifying the request of potential parents to adopt a child, and documents confirming these circumstances.
4. Request to change the child’s personal data in the vital record.

The following documents are attached to the adoption application:

• a copy of the adoptive parents' birth certificate;
• a copy of the marriage certificate (for married persons);
• consent of the spouse to adoption or a document confirming that the spouses have not lived together for more than 1 year.
• medical report on health status;
• characteristics from the place of work;
• document confirming income;
• title document for living space;
• a document confirming the registration of a citizen as a candidate for adoptive parents.

All specified documents are provided in 2 copies.

A court decision on the adoption of a child by citizens that has entered into force is the basis for issuing a certificate of adoption and state registration.

Marriages between adopted children from different parents

Russian legislation prohibits registering marriages between blood brothers and sisters. However, there are times when a bond develops between adopted children from different biological parents. On the one hand, not being close relatives, such couples can create families, but by law they are considered relatives. Both citizens have a common surname and patronymic. In addition, they are entitled to the same rights in a foster family.

Despite the lack of blood relationship, a man and a woman will not be able to get married. To register a marriage, you will need to solve the problem of adoption. Adoptive parents must go to court to annul their relationship with one of the children.

It is important to follow all steps:

• Prepare and submit an application to the court to cancel the adoption of the child;
• Attend a court hearing, where the participants in the process will be guardianship officers, the prosecutor and adopted children;
• After a positive court decision, the former adopted child must restore his previous data (last name, first name and patronymic);
• Future spouses submit an application to the registry office to register the marriage.

Expert commentary

Kireev Maxim

Lawyer

The initiator of the process of canceling kinship can be either the guardian or the adopted child himself. The main condition is that the ward must be 18 years old at the time of filing the claim.

Alimony for an adopted child

Divorce proceedings often occur between adoptive parents. The question also arises with whom the child will remain after the divorce, and who will pay alimony for his maintenance.

If biological parents abandon their child, they lose all rights towards him.

When a child is adopted by one parent of the opposite sex, mutual rights and obligations remain between them, including alimony.

A child may be adopted under the following circumstances:

1. Spouses adopt a child from an orphanage, and acquire the status of parents through the court, having undergone special education and training.
2. If the child’s mother or father registers a marriage, the new husband or wife can become an adoptive parent if the child’s relatives were deprived of parental rights;
3. If one of the spouses is widowed and gets married. By law, a new spouse can adopt the child of a widowed parent.

If the adoptive couple ends the marriage relationship or is deprived of parental rights, then after the divorce they will be required to pay alimony until the adopted child reaches adulthood.

There are situations when a family in which a child was adopted by one of the parents breaks up. In this case, the adoptive mother or father will be required to fulfill obligations towards the stepson or stepdaughter.

Both of them do not have the right to refuse to pay alimony, since they are equally responsible for maintaining the adopted minor.

Amount of alimony payments upon adoption

Adoptive parents must fulfill their obligations towards adopted children, including alimony, based on the provisions of the Family Code of the Russian Federation.

There are no differences in the payment of child support for adopted or natural children. They are collected by decision of the court in a fixed amount and in the form of parts from the income of the payer.

A quarter of the total income is collected for one child, one third for two children, if there are three or more children in the family, then the payment will be half the monthly salary.

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An unemployed parent is also required to pay child support, since lack of earnings is not a reason not to support children.

Alimony in a fixed amount is established at the request of the applicant at trial or in a voluntary agreement if the payer evades payments or has temporary income.

The amount is indexed according to a standard scheme or in the order concluded between the two parties in a voluntary agreement.

Even if paternity status is revoked, you can only relieve yourself of the obligation to make alimony payments if you are re-adopted by a new spouse.

World practice

A ban on marriage between certain categories of citizens is in effect in many countries. The legal grounds are almost the same as in Russia, but there are differences:

• In countries professing Islam, polygamy is allowed. In our state, a family should consist only of a man and a woman. In Muslim states, a citizen is allowed to have up to 4 wives;
• Foreign citizens are prohibited from marrying blood relatives, including second cousins. In Russia, the ban does not apply to second cousins;
• Foreign states do not always limit the rights of citizens to marry between adoptive parents and adopted children. The reason for this loyalty is the lack of blood relationship between the people in the couple. In some countries, there is a certain authority that allows or prohibits marrying an adopted child;
• Almost all countries agree on the issue of marriage with an incapacitated citizen. Such unions are not registered due to human limitations. People often take advantage of the insanity of their other half for their own selfish purposes.