Sample statement of claim for adoption of a wife's child

Adoption concept

After completion of the adoption procedure, the child receives a new parent or parents.
Legally, adoptive parents are given all the rights and responsibilities of a mother and father. The procedure is allowed only for minors (under 18 years of age). Adoption of a child is possible for adults. They must be healthy, capable citizens with no criminal record, with a stable income and their own living space. Guardianship and trusteeship authorities are obliged to make sure that candidates for adoptive parents are ready to fulfill their parental duties free of charge and in good faith. If all requirements are met, the court verdict will be positive.

When a husband adopts his wife's children and vice versa, the consent of the second parent will be required. If he is deprived of parental rights, declared incompetent or missing, then such a measure is not required. The child's consent is required by the stepfather or stepmother when he or she reaches 10 years of age. The child’s opinion will not be taken into account if the candidate for adoptive parents has not previously contacted him.

Children may be adopted by foreign citizens. The procedure will take place according to the laws of the country to which the candidate parents are, and in compliance with the 21st Convention on the Rights of Children and Article 3, Article 124. RF IC. The likelihood of a positive outcome can be influenced by the religion, nationality, dialect and cultural characteristics of the foreigner. During the trial, the plaintiff will need to prove that the child will receive the necessary education and will develop mentally, spiritually and physically. If there are no arguments against the applicant, he will be given the rights and responsibilities of an adoptive parent in accordance with the procedure established by law.

Common mistakes adopted by adoptive parents

Common mistakes adoptive parents make when applying for adoption.

Adoption is perhaps the only category of court cases, the decision on which is met (hopefully) with smiles from everyone present. Of course, what could be more joyful? A baby, or even two, found a family, and the parents found a son or daughter. But the path from the moment when a married couple or a single adoptive parent decides to accept a child into the family, to the moment when the judge pronounces an almost sacred “application to grant,” sometimes takes several months, and is far from covered with roses.

This article discusses only adoption by Russian citizens on the territory of the Russian Federation, and only the narrow issue of preparing and filing an application for adoption in court. It does not examine the issues of drawing up an application, but only lists the main mistakes that adoptive parents make when preparing and submitting applications. The author is grateful to all his trustees for the experience on which this article is based.

Adoption is established by the court according to the rules of special proceedings established by the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. As a general rule, cases of this category are considered by the district court at the place of residence or location of the child.

In practice, courts may return adoption applications if it is not possible to determine from them the child’s place of residence or where he is located. Adoptive parents simply omit this point.

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The child’s place of residence will be either the place of his registration at the place of residence (the most rare place for consideration of this category of cases), or the place of residence of his guardian (in accordance with Article 20 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - this very place will be the place of residence of the child under guardianship), or a place where the child is supervised in an organization for children left without parental care or for other reasons.

The law does not establish any criteria for determining the location of a child. Thus, theoretically, it would be correct to file an adoption application with the court at the child’s location: in a hospital, or in a shelter, and even, for example, in a summer health camp. However, the adoptive parent will be faced with the need to somehow prove to the court that this is the right place. And this is where problems can arise.

Therefore, the location of the child should be understood as the place of his temporary stay, which you can prove with documentation. For example, it could be a social shelter, where the child is staying temporarily, but there is documentary evidence of this.

It would be a mistake to submit an application for adoption at the location of any organization where the child was previously kept if the child was placed under guardianship. In this case, the application should be submitted to the district court at the place of residence of the guardian.

It is also necessary to note that the application is submitted to the district court at the location of the child at the time of filing such an application. Even if during the judicial procedure the child, for example, is placed under guardianship or transferred to another institution, this will not lead to a change in the jurisdiction of the case (Article 33 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

The second large group of problems is related to the content of the application for adoption of a child. The list of what must be indicated in the application for adoption is established by Art. 270 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, however, often, applicants do not fully comply with the requirements of this article.

First of all, we are talking about incompletely formulated requirements for the court. The court does not have the right to arbitrarily go beyond the stated requirements and “figure out” for the adoptive parent what else he had in mind when filing an application with the court. Thus, applicants quite often forget to indicate a request to change the child’s name, surname or patronymic , or his place of birth . If in the case of a surname, first name or patronymic this can be somehow corrected in the future (through a long and bureaucratic procedure for changing the name), then the place of birth can only be changed by the court, and only when making a decision on the establishment.

The second most common mistake made by potential adoptive parents is failure to indicate the need to record the adoptive parents as parents in the child’s birth certificate. The point is that this is not a “self-evident” requirement. On the contrary, the Family Code requires that information about parents be preserved unless such a request is made by the adoptive parents (Article 136 of the RF IC).

In addition, there are non-obvious requirements for the content of the application that are not directly specified in the Civil Procedure Code, but exist due to the requirements of other laws. Thus, in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Law “On Acts of Civil Status”, a court decision, according to which changes are made or a new civil record is drawn up, must contain the information necessary to make such a record. To draw up an adoption record, it is required that the court decision on adoption indicate the details (date, number, place of compilation, surname, first name, patronymic of the child) of the birth record, and also, if you want to be entered as parents in the birth certificate of the child being adopted, information about the adoptive parents (last name, first name, patronymic, citizenship, place of residence). Situations often arise when the place of residence of the parents is not indicated in the court decision, and this raises questions for the registry office when drawing up the adoption record. Therefore, we can recommend that adoptive parents, when formulating a request to register them as parents, indicate the place of residence of the adoptive parents directly in the petition part of the application.

In accordance with Art. 131 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the application must be signed by the applicant or another person by proxy, however, alas, it often happens that applicants forget to sign the application before submitting it to the court.

The list of documents attached to the application for establishment of adoption is also established by law (Article 271 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Unfortunately, it is formulated quite difficult to understand, and raises a number of questions when applying it. Perhaps in connection with this, the Supreme Court (see Review of Practice in Adoption Cases for 2014, for example) has repeatedly noted that failure to provide all legally required documents is the most common shortcoming of adoption applications.

As the author’s practice shows, the greatest problems are caused by providing a document on housing, as well as a document on registration as an adoptive parent.

The application for adoption must be accompanied by a document confirming the right to use or ownership of the residential premises. There are usually no problems with the document of ownership; a copy of the certificate of ownership of the residential premises is attached. The right to use is more complicated.

First of all, this does not mean any premises, but the one in which the adoptive parents live and where (at least immediately after the court decision) the child will live. Further, it is necessary to keep in mind that the right to use housing can arise for various reasons, and a document about this is needed. If you live somewhere due to “family relations” or because “good people let you in,” you need to document this, for example, with an agreement on the right to use your parents’ apartment, and submit a document on the right of use to the court .

In itself, an extract from the house register, or a financial-personal account (or, issued in Moscow in exchange for these documents, the so-called “Unified Housing Document” - EZhD) is not, strictly speaking, a document of title, but to the courts as confirmation of the right to use accepted.

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Adoptive parents also do not always provide a copy of the marriage certificate, but, due to the requirements of Art. 271 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation is mandatory.

Certificates of employment, as a rule, do not cause problems when received and submitted to the court, however, there are situations when they do not contain all the information required by law: they forget to indicate either the position or the average salary. Average wage is a labor law term and means the average monthly amount based on the employee’s annual earnings. Indicating only the amount of wages or its monthly payments is not, strictly speaking, fulfillment of the requirements established for this document. As well as the 2-NDFL certificate, which is sometimes requested by the courts, and which, as proof of income, is usually enthusiastically accepted by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

Separately, paragraph 7 of part 1 of Art. requires clarification. 271 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. A document on registration as a candidate adoptive parent is not issued as a separate document to adoptive parents who are citizens of the Russian Federation; such a document is provided for foreign adoptive parents. However, Russian adoptive parents have a document confirming such registration. This is a conclusion on the possibility of being an adoptive parent , issued in accordance with Government Decree No. 275 dated March 29, 2000, regulating adoption issues, as well as a referral to visit a child, issued to visit a child being adopted. In accordance with the law, on the basis of the conclusion about the possibility of being an adoptive parent, he was obligated to be registered as a candidate for adoptive parent with the guardianship and trusteeship authority that issued the said conclusion. A referral to visit a child is issued only after the citizen is registered as a candidate for adoptive parents. As a rule, the adoptive parent has both of these documents and can be attached to the application.

Many questions arise when preparing a package of documents for filing with the court. On the one hand, in Art. 271 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation quite unequivocally establishes that all documents are submitted in two copies. On the other hand, the court makes a decision based on evidence, which can be documents or duly certified copies. In addition, due to the general rules of legal proceedings, all documents are provided with copies according to the number of persons participating in the case.

The practice developed as follows. Firstly, the courts accept copies of documents, both certified (in our case, either by a notary, or by the body that issued them, or by the body that has the originals of these documents) and not certified. In the latter case, the court, as a rule, as part of a preliminary court hearing, must be provided with original documents for comparison with copies and their certification (copies for the case materials are certified by the court itself). Separately, we note that there is no need to keep copies of, for example, a medical certificate, a certificate of employment and other “one-time” or easily restored documents - give the originals to the court.

Secondly, it is required to submit an application and attached documents to the court according to the number of persons involved. In an adoption case, at least the adoptive parents themselves are involved (not keeping copies of the documents, but giving everything to the court is a very “popular” action among adoptive parents who are worried about the process), the court, the prosecutor, and the guardianship authority. In total, you need to submit to the court, at a minimum, the application itself with documents or copies, and two more copies of this application and documents. And if a child is adopted from any institution, then a copy for this participant in the case. Thus, the entire package of documents must be at least four copies (one of them must be kept for yourself).

Since the author did not set out to provide an overview of all possible shortcomings of the application that lead to the suspension of the case, but limited himself to only the most common ones, the topic, of course, will not be abandoned in the future.

I really hope that there will be fewer mistakes now and the children will end up at home a little faster.

Anton Zharov, lawyer, specialist in family and juvenile law, head of the “Team of Lawyer Zharov”

Main points of the procedure for adopting children of a wife (husband)

If all the requirements given in Chapter 19 of the RF IC are met and the PLO is approved, the main problem is obtaining the consent of the child’s second parent. The adoptive parent must have it before filing a claim. The obtained approval must be certified by a notary or the guardianship authorities. As a last resort, the biological parent has the right to corroborate the plaintiff's claims during the trial.

Lawyers advise limiting yourself to the first 2 options, since there have been situations when the biological mother (father) changed her mind shortly before the meeting.

If it is not possible to obtain the consent of the second parent, then the only option is the procedure for revoking parental rights. It can be started if you have significant income (unwillingness to participate in raising a child, alcoholism, drug addiction, child abuse). After completion of legal proceedings on this issue, at least 6 months must pass before filing a claim for the adoption of a child. During this time, the biological mother or father can appeal the court's decisions.

Features of adoption of a child from an orphanage by a married couple

Spouses who wish to adopt a child from an orphanage are required to contact the Public Education Office to obtain an opinion on the possibility of becoming adoptive parents.
You should take with you an application that sets out the requirements and grounds for obtaining approval and a package of documents that helps to establish the identity of the candidates and their financial situation. The resulting conclusion will allow you to visit the child in the place where he is being held. Then the second stage will begin, which consists of collecting the next package of documents and writing a statement of claim to the court.

Who has the opportunity to become an adoptive parent?

It's worth starting with who actually has the opportunity to become an adoptive parent.

In connection with the norms established by the Legislation of the Russian Federation, the following persons cannot become adoptive parents:

have previously been criminally punished under articles related to violation of the integrity of children (including sexual intercourse), as well as causing threat or harm to the life and health of people (and the statute of limitations does not matter);
suffering from addiction to alcohol, drugs;
those who are in a serious physical condition, as a result of which they can cause harm to the child’s health (various manias, psychoses or pathogenic infections), or who are disabled people of the first group;
with an outstanding criminal record, in particular, under serious articles of the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
whose income is insufficient to support a child;
previously deprived of parental rights or who previously performed the functions of guardians or adoptive parents unsatisfactorily;
not provided with the necessary property (living space);
who are dependent on the incapacitated spouse.

It must be borne in mind that if a married couple acts as adoptive parents, then the marriage must be registered in the registry office.

Documents required by the court

The general list of documents attached to the statement of claim is as follows:

Identity card of the child (birth certificate) and adoptive parent (passport).
Lease agreement or document confirming the availability of your own home.
Marriage certificate.
Results of the medical examination (registration form 164/у-96) of the applicant and the child.
A document confirming no criminal record.
Consent of the second parent, guardianship authorities, adoptive parents, guardians (if necessary).

The court will require copies of the application, evidence and attached documents for each participant in the hearing. To clarify some points, information from government agencies and witness testimony may be required.

List of applications

In Art.
271 of the Code of Civil Procedure contains a list of documents that must be sent to the court along with a request to transfer a minor under personal responsibility. A stepfather who has expressed his intention to adopt a stepson or stepdaughter needs to take care of collecting the necessary documentation even before submitting the application. After all, the application should be sent simultaneously with the attachments. The composition of the set of documents depends on the citizenship of the applicant. If a stepfather or stepmother is a citizen of the Russian Federation, then the following is required:

a copy of the marriage registration certificate;
consent of the second parent or information about the actual termination of family relations between spouses and separation for a period of more than 1 year;
medical certificate about general health;
information to confirm the right to use housing or ownership of residential real estate.

If a child who is a citizen of the Russian Federation wants to be adopted by a foreign stepfather, the list of applications expands. Additionally, a conclusion from a foreign authorized body of the relevant state will be required. This report reflects an assessment of the applicant’s living conditions, his financial situation and the ability to fulfill his obligations in relation to the minor.

Process of filling out a claim application

The guardianship authorities and the court office have many different sample applications. Focusing on the templates, it will be much easier to fill out your statement of claim. Only truthful information must be provided. Content requirements are given in Article 271. Civil Procedure Code.

The application must indicate the following details:

Name of the court.
Information about the applicant (address, full name, email, contact phone number).
Information about the child (place of residence, full name, date of birth, information about biological parents, sisters and brothers).
List and location of persons interested in the case. It is worth writing only verified data. If possible, it is recommended to copy exact information from publicly available sources or indicate a known address and name of the authority, and the court will correct the details.
Title of the application.
Information about the people with whom the baby lives, information about the relationship of the applicants and the reasons for adoption. It is necessary to indicate only accurate data, avoiding unnecessary information. An example of a statement related to family proceedings will help flesh out the story. If certain information supporting a claim is omitted, the court may require it to be provided at the hearing.
Petition for adoption indicating information about the adoptive parents and the child.
Attached is a list of documents. To make it more convenient for the court to consider them, it is better to add numbering, dates and number of sheets.
At the end there is a signature and date of compilation.

Examples of forms

A sample application to the court for the adoption of a child of a woman married to the plaintiff is as follows:

When adopting a child, a spouse or stepmother must make minor changes to the document. The essence of the statement remains the same.

The application for adoption from 2 spouses is slightly different from the one above:

Questions about adoption

Do I need to write to all interested parties: registry office, guardianship? Do you need to write down a list of documents?

The interested party will be guardianship; the registry office is not involved in such matters. In the application, list everything you are enclosing with your application.

I was in a civil marriage, my wife died, I had a daughter, but it was not registered in my name. A sample application form for adoption is required.

You can fill out an adoption application using this sample, indicating your circumstances

It is important to describe the whole situation in as much detail as possible, but in a concise form.

We were told that there should be 3 packages of documents. Tell me, are these 3 identical packages of documents? And they must be certified by a notary, or just copies?

These must be 3 packages of identical documents. There is no need to certify copies of documents; you can then bring the originals to the court so that the court can examine them at the hearing and certify the copies itself.

Where to apply to adopt a child

The application for adoption must be submitted to the district court office at your place of residence. The case will be considered free of charge. The absence of a state fee is due to the nature of the case (in the interests of the child). The trial will take place behind closed doors with the participation of a representative of the PLO and the prosecutor. If the child is already 10 years old, the judge will ask his opinion personally during the hearing.

After reviewing the arguments presented and considering the materials of the case, a decision will be made. If there are no complaints from the biological parents and employees of the educational institution, the criteria of the adoptive parent are met and the application is justified, the court’s verdict will be positive. Then you need to contact the registry office to correct the child’s data and obtain a new birth certificate.

Claims made and contents of the document

All the main aspects that must be taken into account when preparing the text are provided for in Art. 274 Code of Civil Procedure of Russia. However, often when applying to the registry office for state registration, various inaccuracies appear that delay the process. It is for this purpose that it is worthwhile to first study in detail the content of the court decision and check for the presence of basic information blocks in it.

The universal sample act issued by the judge must contain a clear indication of the establishment of adoption. It is not enough to simply indicate that the submitted application has been accepted. According to the current legislation, the judge is obliged to indicate in the operative part all available information about the adoptee and the adoptive parent. In particular, it is noted who exactly is adopting whom.

Rights and obligations

The adopted child will have to stay with the new parents as a full member of the family. Legally, he will become his own son or daughter, and the adoptive parents will be given the responsibilities of natural parents:

provide educational opportunities;
take care of physical, moral and intellectual development;
provide basic needs (feed, clothe);
create comfortable living conditions;
provide medical care.

Citizens who have adopted a child are granted parental rights by law:

represent the interests of children in court;
bring up;
demand the return of the child if he is being held anywhere;
protect from legal entities and individuals;
choose educational and medical institutions;
receive benefits and child support.

The adopted child must also fulfill certain responsibilities:

obey and treat new parents with respect;
allow yourself to be taken care of;
get secondary education;
behave correctly;
follow the rules of the educational institution;
report to the military registration and enlistment office (for guys).

The law guaranteed adopted children the following rights:

communicate freely with friends and relatives;
defend interests;
express your will.

Consequences of adoption

After adoption, the child officially becomes his own child, which has certain legal consequences:

In relation to the adoptive parents and members of their family, the child’s rights are equal to those of a blood relative.
New parents will have to comply with parental duty.
An adopted child will have to take care of his adoptive parents in old age.
New parents have the right to receive child care benefits.
An adopted child becomes a rightful heir.

The child will continue to receive payments for the loss of parents after adoption.

The child is freed from property and non-property rights in relation to biological parents after adoption. The exception is when there is only one adoptive parent and the child has a parent of the opposite sex. For example, if a child has a mother, then a citizen who wants to become a father must listen to her wishes. In such a situation, all rights in relation to the biological parent and his relatives remain in force. A similar situation is possible with the death of one of the parents. His mother and father can file a petition for preservation of the rights of the child in relation to the family members of the deceased.