Adoption of an adult debate

If you want to adopt an adult person, you and the person to be accepted can apply for this at the district court - family court.

The adoption of an adult as a child (adoption) is pronounced by the family court at the request of the adopter and the adoptee.

An adult may be adopted as a child if the assumption is morally justified. This is to be assumed in particular if a parent-child relationship has already arisen between the adopter and the adopter.

The adult adoption is basically designed as an adoption with weak effects, i.e. the family relationships of the adopter to his biological family are not completely cut. Under certain conditions, however, it can also be pronounced as a full adoption, which leads to an almost complete integration into the family of the adopter.

The family court will decide on the application for acceptance at your local court with local jurisdiction. In Hesse, not all local courts have family courts (§ 5 of the Jurisdiction of Justice Ordinance). You can find the local court with local jurisdiction for you via the Federal and State Justice Portal.

Please contact the competent family court at your local court.

• Notarised application of the acceptor and the acceptor
• In the case of a stepchild adoption, a notarized declaration of consent from the spouse of the adopter
• Notarised declaration of consent of the spouse of the adopter

• You may adopt an adult as a child if the acceptance is morally justified.
• This is the case if a parentchild relationship has already been established.
• This can be assumed, for example, if
• the adopter has already lived in your family as a minor child and
• legal reasons that prevented adoption. Example: The biological parents refused to consent to the adoption during the period of minority of the adoptee.

The rejection of the adoption application by the family court can be challenged with the appeal pursuant to §§ 58 ff. FamFG within one month.

You must submit the required documents as notarized declarations to the family court.

• You can also instruct a notary to file the file.
• If you have children of your own, the court will consider whether their overriding interests preclude the adoption.
• This could be the case if the following claims were unduly reduced:
  • Maintenance claims
  • Inheritance rights
• Even if the adopter has children himself/herself, the court examines whether their overriding interests preclude acceptance. Therefore, the children of both parties have a right to be heard.
• If the conditions for an adult adoption are met, the court pronounces the adoption of the adult by order.

None

Due to the prescribed procedure, usually at least 3 months, depending on the individual case

• costs for notarial certification and
• Legal expenses

Further information can also be found in the service portal of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.