Is it possible to adopt an adult person in Russia or does this practice apply only to children? How is the position of adopted children interpreted by law and is it possible for

Parental relationships can arise regardless of age. It turns out to be necessary quite often to legitimize adoptive relationships between adults. Adoption of an adult is required from time to time when circumstances conducive to it arise. Therefore, questions often arise about the possibility of such a procedure and its features.

It will not be superfluous to know what the law offers for formalizing parental relations.

Adoption is a legal procedure. It establishes the legal relationship between adoptive parents and their wards, typical for both children and their natural parents. At the same time, the adopted person will gain family relationships with his adoptive parents, but loses them in relation to consanguinity.

So is it possible to adopt an adult in Russia? This question is of interest to many.

Is it possible to adopt an adult?

The law says that it is possible to formalize these legal relations only in relation to a minor. In addition, the following conditions must be met:

the adoption procedure is carried out strictly in the interests of the child;
the adopted child will be guaranteed full development.

Children are small citizens with virtually no social protection. They need proper upbringing, decent education and financial support. They should get the right direction in life. It is children who need love and care more than others. Children are legally considered to be persons under eighteen years of age.

They need adoption in order to be able to be among people who love and care for them, and for adoptive parents it is a chance to experience the joy of parenthood.

Before reaching the age of majority (18 years), a legal act is formalized through the court. After that, the citizen ceases to be considered a child. From this moment on, the citizen, according to the law, is endowed with full rights and acquires responsibilities. In general, this is called capacity. But it will not be possible to adopt an adult in Russia.

Important!!! The Family Code is the main normative act that establishes the age of the adoptee in Russian legislation. And the psychological age of an adult does not affect him.

How do the rights of an adopted child change?

Adoption in the Russian Federation is considered exclusively as a way to protect a child who finds himself without the care of his natural parents. And with age, the mutual rights and responsibilities of an adopted child and his adoptive parents change.

Minor:
After the death of the parents, the priority right to inherit property arises.
Adult:
Parents inherit for their children, like other first-degree heirs.

In other words, with adoption in Russia, a moral and property connection arises between adoptive parents and adopted children, which is not interrupted after adulthood.

The court has the right to recover alimony from the adopted child in favor of the disabled adoptive parent. But if the adult adoptive parents did not provide financial support to the adopted child, and this fact is documented, the adult child will not have to pay child support. The court will relieve him of this obligation. But the court is not able to oblige him to care for the parents who adopted him, since this is a personal obligation.

Establishing paternity

If the opportunity arises to obtain parental rights in relation to an adult citizen, then it is possible to establish paternity. The age of the child in this situation does not matter, but his consent must be obtained.

Important! The method is suitable for blood parents, as well as for citizens who are ready to establish an official relationship on a voluntary basis.

If the issue is resolved in relation to an incapacitated adult, the consent of his guardian will be required.

If the initiator of establishing paternity is a man, then with the consent of the child’s mother, it is possible to contact the civil registry office. Citizens must submit a joint application and pay a state fee.

When establishing paternity of an adult, the possibility of contacting the guardianship department is not provided. In other cases, it is necessary to go to court.

Guardianship of an adult

But is it possible to change the family status of an already matured “child” in Russia? Adoption of an adult is not possible.

The general rules of law stipulate that you can only adopt someone who is under 18 years of age. But there are exceptional cases when the court satisfies the applicant’s claim for adoption. How to adopt an adult? Arrange for guardianship.

An alternative to adoption as a formalization of family relationships can be guardianship and trusteeship. The immutable requirement of the law in this regard is that guardianship and trusteeship can only be established in relation to citizens who have been declared incompetent or partially incompetent by the court. The Family Code proclaims that such relationships can be legalized solely for the purpose of protecting their rights and interests, which they are not able to independently realize due to illness or addiction.

Establishing paternity

The easiest way to carry out the procedure for adoption into a family is if the potential parent and child are biologically theirs, and this fact is simply not documented.
For example, the child’s parents lived without registering their relationship at the registry office. Only information about the mother was included in the birth certificate. If for some reason the father wants to document the fact of his parenthood after the child reaches the age of majority, the law grants him such a right. No legal act regulates age restrictions when establishing paternity. If the child’s mother is alive and capable, plus she agrees with the recognition of paternity, the procedure is very simple. It is necessary for the official and potential parent to appear at the registry office with general civil passports and fill out a corresponding application. If there is consent on both sides, even a non-biological parent can be registered as the father.

The procedure becomes more complicated if the child's mother is absent or declared incompetent. In such a situation, the potential father must contact the guardianship and trusteeship authorities to obtain consent to carry out the procedure. If it is provided, the future parent applies to the registry office with the appropriate certificate.

Establishing paternity is even more difficult if the guardianship authorities have not provided consent. In this case, the problem can only be resolved through the court by filing a statement of claim.

Considering the age of the child, the potential father must obtain his approval for the procedure. Upon completion, parents and children acquire in relation to each other all the rights and obligations established for legal parents and children.

The procedure for registering guardianship in Russia

An adult who has serious illnesses that do not allow him to objectively assess the situation and be responsible for the consequences of his own actions may be declared incompetent by the court, fully or partially.

Such people require care and guardianship even more than minors. To organize the life of such a person, guardianship becomes the most suitable form when home conditions are maintained for them, and additional care is provided to them.

In order for an adult to be declared incompetent, it is necessary to submit an application to the court. The claim can be drawn up by: competent adult relatives, guardianship authorities, representatives of a psychiatric institution. The judicial institution can be selected at the citizen’s place of residence, or at the address of the clinic where he is undergoing treatment.

The statement of claim must cover:

circumstances demonstrating mental disorder;
factors as a result of which the patient cannot independently manage his actions.

Guardians and trustees acquire the status of legal representatives of those under their care. They are appointed by guardianship and trusteeship authorities. Guardians have the right to act on behalf of their wards. As soon as an adult citizen has lost or become limited in legal capacity, persons claiming to be guardians can be appointed as such upon application within a month.

It should be understood that any legally competent adult can submit an application: an old friend, neighbor or just a stranger, but if there are close relatives among the applicants, they will be given preference.

Those who were once deprived of parental rights will not be able to obtain guardianship; has a criminal record for serious crimes.

Now you should contact the guardianship and trusteeship department at your place of residence. On the spot, the applicant for the role of guardian fills out and submits an application. One statement is not enough. You will also need a whole set of documents:

passports of applicants for the role of guardian and ward;
SNILS of both sides;
a certificate from your place of employment indicating your income for the last year and your position;
health certificate of the candidate for guardianship;
a certificate of no problems with the law;
document on marital status (if there are blood relatives, their consent to register guardianship over the incompetent);
act of living conditions of the adoptive parent;
autobiography of the applicant for guardianship;
certificate of income of the incapacitated person;
TIN and health insurance policy adopted with copies;
document confirming the adoptee's incapacity;
an inventory of the incapacitated person’s property with all papers;
bank statements from the ward's accounts.

After their analysis, the guardianship commission will prepare a conclusion. If it is positive, the applicant will be placed in a queue.

With the establishment of guardianship and trusteeship over incapacitated adults, checks will be carried out at the place of residence of the ward. This responsibility is assigned to representatives of the trustee committee who will conduct inspections.

In addition, the guardian must provide reports on the flow of funds of his sponsored person and on the use of his property.

Basic moments

Adoption in Russian legal acts refers to the procedure for accepting a child left without parental care into a family for upbringing. When implementing it, adoptive parents and adopted children acquire all the rights and obligations that legal parents and their children have in relation to each other.

The main regulatory act regulating the process is the Family Code of the Russian Federation (Chapter 19). Art. 124 establishes that adoption is carried out only if a number of factors are met:

A child accepted into a family is a person left completely without parental care.
The purpose of adoption is to protect the interests of children, not adults. Adoptive parents must provide evidence that they can provide full upbringing and physical and mental development of the child. When carrying out a procedure in relation to children over 14 years of age, the latter’s permission must be sought. If refused, the adoption will not take place.
Half-siblings must be adopted into the same family.
Stateless persons and citizens of other states are given the opportunity to adopt Russian citizens only if the children cannot be placed in Russian families.

Art. 124 of the RF IC also clearly indicates that only citizens who have not reached the age of majority can be adopted. According to Russian laws, this is 18 years (Article 21 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Upon reaching this age, a person acquires all the rights and obligations of citizens of the state. Those. According to family law, if necessary, an adult citizen pays maintenance to his parents. And following legal logic, he himself does not need such support. Although in practice it may look different.

In some cases, the court will not provide the opportunity to adopt a minor child. For example, if a citizen, under the age of 18, is employed and has a good income that allows him to live comfortably, it turns out that his legal status is equal to that of an adult citizen, but only on condition that he has received the written approval of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities or official guardians.

The RF IC has a number of requirements that the adoptive parent must meet:

Be an adult, capable and free of serious illnesses.
Have your own living space and sufficient material support.
The applicant must not have had any history of deprivation or restriction of parental rights in relation to any child.
The applicant must not have been removed from guardianship by a court in the past.
Have no convictions for serious crimes, etc. (Article 127 of the RF IC).

The difference between adoption and guardianship

From a legal point of view, these civil institutions are completely different. Their goals may differ, but they have to solve the same problems - to protect the interests of their wards, the adopted child and the ward.

If we make a deeper comparison, the picture will be as follows:

Adoption	Guardianship and trusteeship
Age	possible only until reaching adulthood	is established in relation to any person, regardless of age (even guardianship of a child is possible), the decisive criterion is complete or partial incapacity
Legal consequences	the mutual rights and obligations of adopted children and adoptive parents are exactly the same as those of parents and their natural children	Guardians have a reduced scope of rights: they are obliged to take care of their wards, their health, and property status. At the same time, we are not talking about mutual rights and obligations; they do not have them
Duration	is installed forever	established until the time when the incapacitated person regains legal capacity
Changing personal data	adoptive parents have the right to seek to change the child’s full name, date and place of birth. Their names can be entered in the relevant documents as blood parents	Guardianship does not have such rights
Relationship	as a result of adoption, an almost full-fledged family is formed, capable of providing the child with a decent upbringing	guardianship is established to protect the rights and interests of the ward

Minimum and maximum age of adoptive parents: up to what age can you adopt a child?

taking care of your health and its complete diagnosis, so as not to leave your baby without proper care and supervision during the most difficult time of growing up;
if there is a predisposition to serious illnesses and attacks, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of re-registering guardianship and trusteeship to one of the close relatives who are able to physically and financially assist in raising the child;
ensure that the child is engaged in various types of activities and ensures that he is fully engaged and passionate about discovering his talents (clubs, sections, spending time together in an exciting way);
provide for the level of financial costs for the period of growth and maturation of the child, as well as own treatment (if necessary) and the ability to provide for the family at this material level;
provide separate housing for the grown-up offspring;
assess your physical and psychological capabilities, whether it will be comfortable to communicate with your young offspring and maintain his level of activity;
evaluate existing prejudices regarding the dirty tricks of small children, scattered things and the frequent misunderstanding of your requirements.

Adult adoption is not permitted, but there is another way to protect the children's interests. The husband can make a will for his wife's child. Since it is impossible to adopt an adult and transfer property by inheritance, all that remains is to draw up a will. It must indicate who will become the rightful owner of the property. Natural children will not be able to receive property if there is a will.

When canceling an adoption, the court decides on preserving the child’s first name, surname and patronymic assigned to him by the adoptive parents, on restoring the original information about the date and place of birth of the child, as well as about his parents, if such information was changed during adoption (Clause 3 of Art. 143 of the RF IC; clause 21 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 8).