The procedure for adopting a wife's child from her first marriage. How to adopt a wife’s child from her first marriage

Is it possible to adopt a wife's child from her first marriage?

The usual situation is early marriage, early first child and early divorce.
After some time, a woman can find a more suitable husband for herself and form a new strong, happy family with him. Usually, the new dad begins to experience full-fledged parental feelings for his wife’s child, but some uncomfortable nuances always remain: the baby bears his father’s surname, which is different from the parent’s.

He may even consider his mother’s new husband to be his dad, but over time he will still have to explain to him some aspects of his birth. In addition, it is necessary to maintain a relationship with the father in order to obtain, for example, permission for the child to travel abroad.

Faced with such problems, some stepfathers decide to adopt a stepson/stepdaughter. Is this possible, and what difficulties might you encounter? It is quite possible to adopt your wife's first child if the man is officially married to her and lives together.

In this case, he will not have to register as a candidate for adoptive parents, and then also undergo special training. You can simply collect the documents immediately and go to court. Another condition is that the child must not be over 18 years old.

The simplest and easiest option is to come to an amicable agreement with your father. From the adoption of the offspring by the second husband of his ex, he will also receive his own advantages - he will not have to pay alimony and bear other obligations.

All this gives a person a good chance to start life over with a new leaf, with a new woman, without obligations to the past.

It is quite possible to reach an agreement with the child’s father if he is still very young - under the age of two or two and a half years, or if the father does not take part in his life anyway. This issue can be resolved simply - the father goes to the notary and writes a notarized application for abandonment of the child. All other burdens of registration fall on the shoulders of the future father.

With a living father who does not give consent

Everything is much more complicated if the father does not want to give up the child and does not give consent to the adoption.

If the father regularly pays child support, even if he is in arrears, but some amount goes to the child’s account every month, especially if he provides some kind of assistance to his offspring and does not even want to hear of his refusal, nothing can be done about it .

Even if the father lives in another city with another family, and maybe even in another country, but pays child support, the law will be on his side. Somehow it is possible to resolve the issue in the interests of the stepfather when the father does not fulfill his duties - that is, at a minimum, does not pay child support for six months or more, his place of work is unknown, and he does not meet with the child.

There are a number of other reasons why a court case can be initiated to deprive the real father of parental rights: the father committed a crime against the child or his mother, tried to involve him in criminal activity.

All cases of deprivation of parental rights are resolved only in court, so the process may take some time.

If the biological father is deprived of parental rights

If the actual father has already been legally deprived of parental rights, then the stepfather can adopt the child at any time, but provided that he meets the adoption requirements and after some time has passed, which is given to the biological father to restore paternity. Usually this is 6 months.

If the biological father is deceased

It will be enough to additionally submit a document about the death of the father to the court.

The survivor's pension for the child will be paid even after adoption.

However, when considering a claim for adoption, the court will also listen to the relatives of the deceased parent, who have the right to ask the court to preserve family relations, since the deceased, as a rule, is not to blame for leaving his child without care.

Procedure

Procedure for adopting a wife's child:

The applicant applies to the guardianship and trusteeship authority to go through the procedure of adopting a child from his wife’s first marriage.
Obtaining permission that the applicant has the right to adopt his minor wife.
After receiving permission, he applies to the government agency at his place of residence.
If the birth mother and the future father are registered at different addresses, then you need to contact each institution separately.
After receiving all the relevant papers, the applicant submits an application to the guardianship authority.

After passing the last stage, the commission begins to work with the candidate and decides whether he is worthy to participate in the process of adopting his wife’s baby or not.

The guardianship authorities make a decision within 15 days from the date of acceptance of the application. After receiving a conclusion about the possibility of being an adoptive parent, the candidate gets in line.

If the applicant is denied, he must receive notification within 5 days of the decision. The documents are returned to him and the challenge process is described.

Required documents

In addition to the statement of claim, you must provide the following documents:

Various types of drug addiction;
Psychical deviations;
Oncological diseases;
Infectious diseases;
Diseases that caused the stepfather to become disabled.

3. Certificate of income from the official place of work. Compared to adopting a child from an orphanage, the stepfather may not have an income that would provide the child with a living wage. In this case, the main thing is that the total family income is not lower than the minimum;

4. Extract from the house register. This document is provided at the place of registration of the applicant. It is necessary to have documents that confirm the existence of the property. Responsibilities include conducting a housing inspection for compliance with sanitary, hygienic and technical conditions;

5. Positive reference from the place of work. The document is signed by the manager and the presence of the company’s wet seal on it is a prerequisite;

6. Medical certificate about the child’s health status. This is an extract from the child's medical record. It is done in the clinic where the baby undergoes a medical examination. You will need a special form, which can be obtained from the guardianship authorities. The certificate is signed by members of the medical commission. The main composition is 3 commission members;

7. Autobiography of a person wishing to adopt a spouse’s child. In the autobiography, the applicant provides the following information:

About Me;
about his relationship with the minor’s mother;
about immediate relatives;
your relationship with your future son/daughter;
about your participation in the life of a minor;
the grounds on which he decided to adopt the child.

8. Statement from the child’s mother. This document confirms that the mother agrees to the adoption.

After collecting these documents and the conclusion from the guardianship authority, you can go to court. In addition to the package of documents, the applicant must draw up a statement of claim.

Statement of claim

To begin the adoption procedure, you will need to submit an application to the court to accept the wife's child from her first marriage. It must contain the personal data of the applicant, as well as information about the child.

The application indicates if the real father was deprived of parental rights or if he gave his consent to the adoption.

In addition, important information about the applicant is indicated:

Having a criminal record;
Having your own children;
Lack or presence of living space;
Information about the state of health, whether there is education, as well as about the relationship between the candidate for adoption and the child.

Additionally, the documents indicated above in the article are attached to the claim.

Without the consent of the biological father

If the biological father does not give his consent or he is missing, then the adoption is carried out through the court at the request of persons who wish to adopt the child.

Consideration of adoption cases takes place in accordance with the rules provided for by procedural legislation.

Cases are considered by the court with the participation of:

adoptive parents;
prosecutor;
guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

To adopt a wife's child by a stepfather, it is necessary to obtain consent from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities and stand in the queue of candidates.

If the wife is a single mother

To adopt a wife's child if she is a single mother, consent from the biological father is not required. The adoption procedure is simplified, so the result will depend on:

collected documents;
positive characteristics of the stepfather;
court decisions.

You must also contact the guardianship authority for an opinion, and then the court for a decision.

Features of the adoption procedure

The easiest way to formalize adoption is if there is no father and legally the spouse has the status of a “single mother”, while there is a dash in the father column on the birth certificate. It is more difficult to achieve the necessary re-registration if the father is recognized by law and fulfills all the parental responsibilities assigned to him (provides financially, takes care of the upbringing and health of the ward).

The process of accepting parental responsibilities presupposes compliance with the judicial procedure if the following circumstances exist:

if the child is under 18 years of age;
death or abandonment of the rights of a biological parent;
refusal to educate the ward;
if the father is deprived of parental rights by force of law.

If a man agrees to transfer parenthood, the legal procedure is faster. If there is disagreement, there will be a long, complex process in court with the preparation of a sufficient evidence base to deprive the biological parent of his rights and transfer them to the new spouse of the mother.

As a rule, the reasons for refusal are often associated with personal reluctance for the child to consider a stranger as a dad, or with mercantile desires, when maintaining paternity is more profitable than losing it.

Before deciding to adopt, a man must be aware that the rights of adopted and natural children are equal in everything, including property and inheritance. After adoption, the same rights in relation to the natural father are lost. It is also impossible to become related to only one of your wife’s children - adoption will affect everyone.

Adoption during the father's lifetime

If the father is alive, the simplest and most correct option is to convince the parent of the advisability of transferring rights to a man who will take full responsibility for the ward, freeing the biological father from the need to pay child support.

It is more advisable to conduct negotiations before the child reaches the age of 2-2.5 years, when the man does not show interest in the life of his own baby. It is enough for the man to obtain a notarized refusal without trial, and the rest of the arrangements are carried out by the mother’s new husband.

In order to achieve a decision in favor of adoption, it will first be necessary to prove that the real father is not fulfilling his duties properly, or there are serious reasons to believe that the transfer of powers is fully consistent with the interests of the ward. Common reasons used in court include:

no alimony payments for 6 months or longer;
lack of official income;
avoidance of meetings with the baby;
criminal acts directed at a minor or mother;
attracting the ward to a life of crime.

In the event of the death of a parent

When the real father has already died, there are no obstacles to finding a new parent. This is the most favorable situation in order to feel the unification of the whole family. For the court, it will be enough to provide a death certificate and show that the spouse, children and man wish to become relatives.

After the adoption procedure, the child retains the right to receive a state survivor's pension.

An important nuance when adopting after the death of the father is the solution to the issue of preserving the family relationship between the baby and relatives on the part of the deceased parent. The court, as a rule, grants the requests of relatives, without having reasons for refusal.

Consent to the adoption of the natural father.

If it so happens that the child has a natural father who is alive and included in the birth certificate, then his opinion will also have to be taken into account.

So, in order for a stepfather to have the opportunity to adopt a child, he must obtain the consent of the natural father.

In what form must consent be given?

The law establishes the following equal options for providing consent:

1. Notarized written form.
2. Personal oral statement of the natural father, recorded in the protocol, which is given directly during the trial of the case.

How to adopt a wife's child from her first marriage

After the official registration of the marriage, the new spouse becomes the stepfather of the wife’s children, which gives him the right to formalize paternity in the future. If a man and a woman are only cohabitants, the question of the possibility of becoming the legal father of the common-law wife’s children is not considered.

The procedure for adopting a wife’s child is possible under the following conditions:

the actual desire of the stepfather;
legally formalized permission of the biological father, if he responsibly fulfills his obligations and is not deprived of parental rights;
consent of the adoptee's mother;
consent of the person being adopted, if he is 10 years old at the time of adoption;
stepfather's capacity;
the stepfather has no criminal record;
having a permanent income;
the stepfather has no serious illnesses, alcohol or drug addiction;
the stepfather's lack of experience in depriving parental rights.

If the biological father gives his consent to the adoption, the permission is legally formalized and certified by a notary. This document exempts the parent from attending court. If there is no permission, then he can express his decision personally during the court hearing.

If the origin of the child does not raise any doubts, and the parents at the time of birth are not legal spouses, but live together, then the issue of paternity is resolved through the registry office. An application is submitted to the registry office, where the man indicates that he wants to be recognized as the legal father.

Where to contact

The procedure for legitimizing paternity lies within the competence of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities; you only need to submit an application and other necessary data to the above authority. After reviewing the documentation, a conclusion is drawn up on the possibility of adoption. If all family members are registered in different places, the data is submitted to the guardianship service at the place of registration.

Having received the required permission, the adoptive parent attaches a pre-drafted statement of claim and applies to the court for a final decision.

Procedure

Obtain legally certified consent for adoption from the natural father.
Obtain written permission from the adoptee's mother.
Prepare a number of necessary documents (listed below).
Contact your local guardianship office for an adoption certificate. Usually stepmothers and stepfathers are not denied the issuance of this document, and after 5 working days the conclusion is ready.
Provide a statement of claim, opinion and other documents to the court.
Take part in the court hearing, as a result of which a decision on adoption is made.

Usually the process of adopting a wife's child by a stepfather takes a maximum of 1-2 months.

Is a stepfather required to undergo training as a person wishing to adopt a child?

If a new husband plans to formalize paternity for his wife’s children from his first marriage, he does not have to attend adoption courses, parenting training, or undergo other special training.

What documents will be required

The procedure for registering the adoption of a wife's child is not as simple as it seems at first glance. The main difficulty is collecting all the requested documents. These include:

Basic (enshrined in federal laws):
certificate of no criminal record of the adoptive parent (requested at the local police department or on the State Services website, completed within 30 days, valid for 6 months);
certificate of health of the adoptive parent (form 164/у-96);
certificate of income of the adoptive parent (form 2-NDFL, requested at the place of work);
characteristics from the place of work with the seal and signature of the manager;
an extract from the house register stating that the adoptive parent lives with the adoptee;
papers for the adoptive parent's real estate;
autobiography of the adoptive parent;
document on the health status of the child being adopted (certificate form 169u);
Marriage certificate.

After carefully studying the documentation, representatives of the guardianship authorities can check the living conditions, as well as talk with the mother and the adopted person. Only after this do they decide on the possibility of registering paternity.

Additional (recorded in regional regulations):
the desire of the adoptee, if he is already 10 years old;
a certificate stating that the adoptive parent has not previously been deprived of parental rights;
a certificate stating that the potential parent was not previously an adoptive parent and the adoption has not been canceled in relation to him.

Information about what other documents are needed to register paternity for the wife’s children can be obtained from local guardianship and trusteeship authorities, as well as on the State Services website.

Adoption of wife's child by stepfather

Life never ceases to present its surprises and it happens that the child’s parents get divorced, and after a while the child’s mother gets married again.

After marriage, the mother's husband becomes the child's stepfather. Often, living together with a child, he plays the role that a father should perform - cares, educates, provides, but does not have the rights that are inherent to a parent.

What to do if a stepfather wants to adopt his wife’s child from a previous marriage? What is the adoption procedure in this case? Even taking into account the fact that adopting a child by a stepfather is significantly easier than adopting a child from an orphanage, it is, nevertheless, a difficult matter, requiring time, effort and patience.

Conditions for adopting a child by a stepfather

The grounds for adoption of a child by a stepfather are:

stepfather's wish
compliance of the stepfather with the legal requirements for adoptive parents
consent of the biological father (with the exception of some cases, which will be discussed below)
consent of the child's mother to the adoption of the child by the stepfather

Important! The child's stepfather is a man who is legally married to the child's mother. Civil marriage does not give the right to adoption.

What to do if the child’s biological father does not agree with the stepfather’s adoption of the child?

Work of guardianship and trusteeship authorities

The time has come to carefully understand the content of the work and functions of the service assigned to protect the younger generation

If the father is not deprived of parental rights, takes part in the child’s upbringing in good faith, pays alimony, and does not harm the child, then it is practically impossible to carry out adoption without his consent in practice.

If the father does not take part in the upbringing, does not see the child for more than 6 months without a good reason and does not pay child support (or pays it by court decision, that is, not voluntarily), there is a chance that the adoption will be allowed by the court WITHOUT CONSIDER THE OPINION OF THE FATHER (especially if he does not appear at the court hearing, which will once again prove his disinterest in the fate of the child). In this case, you must be prepared to convincingly prove in court the fact that the father does not see the child. Try to discuss this point with the guardianship and trusteeship authority; they can suggest what steps in this direction are best to take in your specific situation.

If the court refuses to decide the case in the absence of the biological father, it makes sense to file a lawsuit to deprive the father of parental rights. The reason may be the same refusal to raise and support a child, as well as a detrimental effect on his physical and mental health.

What to do if the biological father agrees with the adoption of the child by the stepfather?

The simplest option is to obtain a notarized permission from the father to adopt a child. To do this, the father must personally appear at any notary and obtain such permission. The form of such permission is standard, it is known to the notary, so there is no need to worry about it.

The permit can be issued both for the adoption of a child by any person, and for the adoption of a specific person. We recommend that you issue a permit for a specific person (the stepfather), since in this case the father will have less chance of challenging the court’s decision if he suddenly changes his mind. If there is a notarized adoption permit, the father's appearance in court is not required.

Instead of obtaining a notarial permit, the father can appear at the court hearing and personally confirm consent to the adoption.

Where to begin? What documents are needed to adopt a child by a stepfather?

Despite the fact that the secrecy of adoption is protected by law in Russia, and the adoptive parent probably would not want to spread unnecessarily about the fact that the child is adopted, quite a few people are required to participate in the process itself. The main stages of the process are obtaining a conclusion from the guardianship and trusteeship authority on the possibility of being an adoptive parent and submitting this conclusion to the court, which, based on all the circumstances, may or may not permit adoption.

Let’s decide right away that if the adoptive parent is registered in one place, the mother and child are in another, and in fact they all live in a third place, then you will most likely have to deal with three guardianship and trusteeship authorities at once - according to the place of registration of the adoptive parent, at the place of registration child and place of actual residence. If you are registered and live in the same place, then the matter becomes somewhat simpler.

You need to start by contacting the guardianship and trusteeship authority at the place of PERMANENT registration of the adoptive parent. There you will need to write a statement of desire to become an adoptive parent, on the basis of which the guardianship and trusteeship authority begins to work with the candidate adoptive parent. The guardianship informs you what documents need to be provided so that they can make a conclusion. These documents include:

1. Certificate of no criminal record . A certificate of no criminal record for a stepfather who wants to adopt a child is prepared within a month, so it is worth ordering it first; you can do this even before contacting the guardianship authority. The certificate is valid for 6 months. You can obtain a certificate of no criminal record as quickly as possible by ordering it through the Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services at https://www.gosuslugi.ru.

2. Conclusion on the health status of the candidate for adoptive parents. Medical report form for the adoption of a child by a stepfather.

IMPORTANT - a medical report based on the results of an examination of a citizen who wishes to adopt, take custody (trusteeship) of a child or become a foster parent must be drawn up on form N 164/u-96 (approved by Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation of September 10, 1996 N 332 “On the procedure medical examination of citizens wishing to become adoptive parents, guardians (trustees) or adoptive parents"). To obtain a certificate, contact your local physician, who will tell you whether the local clinic has the specialists necessary to prepare a report and, if not, where to go.

Which doctors does a stepfather need to see to finalize the adoption? To obtain a conclusion, you will need to visit the following doctors:

THERAPIST (will refer for general blood and urine tests, fluorography)
INFECTIONIST (makes a conclusion about the absence of infectious diseases)
DERMATOVENEROLOGIST (carries out an external examination of the skin for the presence of skin diseases and sends for a blood test for syphilis)
PHTISIATTER (a doctor who diagnoses the absence of tuberculosis. As a rule, the doctor simply checks whether the stepfather is registered at the tuberculosis dispensary and looks at the results of fluorography issued by the therapist)
NEUROPATOLOGIST (checks for neurological disorders)
ONCOLOGIST (this doctor checks whether the stepfather is registered at the oncology clinic. If there are no complaints or obvious problems, no additional diagnostics are performed)
PSYCHIATRIST (evaluates mental health)
NARCOLOGIST (checks whether the stepfather is registered at the drug treatment clinic, and also assesses the possibility of alcohol or drug addiction)

The task of these doctors is not to conduct a comprehensive health examination, but to establish the presence or absence of diseases in a candidate adoptive parent, in the presence of which persons for health reasons cannot exercise parental rights.

The list of diseases, in the presence of which a person cannot adopt a child, take him into guardianship (trusteeship), or take him into a foster family, was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 1, 1996 N 542:

Tuberculosis (active and chronic) of all forms of localization in patients of groups I, II, V of dispensary registration;
Diseases of internal organs, nervous system, musculoskeletal system in the stage of decompensation;
Malignant oncological diseases of all localizations;
Drug addiction, substance abuse, alcoholism;
Infectious diseases before removal from dispensary registration;
Mental illnesses in which patients are recognized in accordance with the established procedure as incompetent or partially capable;
All diseases and injuries that lead to disability of groups I and II, excluding the ability to work.

Please note - if you had to go to different medical institutions to undergo an examination - (for example, a neurologist ended up in his own clinic, but for a phthisiatrician’s report you had to go to a dispensary) - then EACH institution must put its own stamp on the doctor’s record.

At the end, the form must be endorsed by the head physician (or deputy) of the clinic at the place of registration. The conclusion is valid for 3 months - if you do not have time to submit documents to the court during this time, you will have to draw up the doctors' conclusion again.

The therapist records in the medical record that the stepfather underwent a medical examination, but the purpose of this examination is not indicated.

3. Certificate of salary (2-NDFL) . For a stepfather, in contrast to the adoption of a child from an orphanage, it is not necessary to have an income that provides the minimum subsistence level for the child established by the legislation of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the main thing is that the minimum is provided by the total income of the family), but a certificate may still be required.

4. An extract from the house register from the apartment where the candidate for adoptive parents is registered. You will need documents for the apartment - for example, a certificate of ownership. These documents will have to be provided even if the child does not actually live at the place of registration of the adoptive parent and has never even been there. The guardianship authorities must inspect the apartment to determine whether it is suitable for a child to live in (the sanitary, hygienic and technical condition of the apartment), whether the child has his own bed, toys, place to play, etc. (if the child does not actually live there, there is no need to have all this there, the apartment must simply be suitable in size and condition in case the child suddenly lives in it).

5. Characteristics from the adoptive parent’s place of work. The document must be certified by the signature of the head of the organization and the seal.

6. Autobiography of the adoptive parent . In free form, no seals or certifications are required.

7. Certificate of health of the adopted child in form 160/u (approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Russia dated July 3, 1995 N 195). The certificate is essentially an extract from the child’s card at the place of his attachment to the children’s clinic - information about the child’s diagnoses and recommendations for further observation are indicated. At the clinic, sometimes they try to issue such a certificate not in the form - simply on the “CERTIFICAT” form. Don’t give in - take form 160/y from your guardianship - let the local pediatrician fill it out. The certificate must be signed by a COMMISSION of doctors (3 people) at the clinic. Upon submitting a certificate to guardianship, the adoptive parent must write a statement stating that he is familiar with the state of health of the child being adopted and has no complaints.

8. Statement from the child’s mother that she agrees with the adoption (consent of the child’s mother to the adoption of the child by the stepfather).

All these documents are necessary in order to reduce the risk of cancellation of the adoption.

After submitting all documents to the guardianship authority, within 5 working days they prepare their conclusion on the stepfather’s possibility of being an adoptive parent.

Is a stepfather required to undergo training as a person wishing to adopt a child?

When adopting a child of his wife from a previous marriage, a stepfather is not required to undergo special training provided for adoptive parents (adoptive parents courses).

Going to court

After receiving this conclusion, you can file a claim in court. We will not go into details of the nuances of drawing up a statement of claim - here it is better to consult with a lawyer.

The court schedules a pre-trial hearing - this is not yet a consideration of the case on its merits - the judge will simply assess whether all the necessary documents have been collected and announce what is missing. Perhaps the judge will decide on the need to call witnesses to court. On the day of the scheduled court hearing, you must appear with a complete package of documents.

About the rights of a legal representative

Representatives in cases of this category have the right, without the personal participation of the principal, to carry out actions outside the trial stage, in particular, to collect and present the necessary evidence, when preparing the case for trial, to give the judge explanations on the merits of the application, to provide additional evidence at the request of the judge, to raise the issue of providing assistance in requesting written and material evidence, etc. (Clause 2 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court “On the application of legislation by courts when considering cases of adoption of children” dated April 20, 2006 No. 8).

What else can you do?

In preparation for the court hearing, it will not be superfluous to: - take an extract from the house register at the child’s place of registration (if the child is not registered with the father) - take a 2-NDFL certificate for the child’s mother (to show the total family income and the ability to provide the child with a living wage) ; — both the adoptive parent and the child’s mother prepare an answer to the court’s questions.

Should the adoptive parent be ready to reasonably explain why he needs to adopt a child since he already actually lives with the child, cares for and raises him?

The mother should be prepared to justify why she believes that adoption by this particular person is in the best interests of the child. We recommend that you take this task responsibly. - print out several photographs where you spend time with your family - photographs of a picnic, a weekend at the dacha or a trip to the zoo in which the adoptive parent is depicted TOGETHER with the child. Such photographs may be additional arguments in your favor.

In addition to directly establishing adoption, you can file a petition for: - changing the child’s surname to the adoptive parent’s surname; - to establish a patronymic for the child in accordance with the name of the adoptive parent; - in some cases, in order to hide the fact of adoption from strangers - to change the date and place (city) of the child’s birth.

If the court's decision is positive, all this data will be recorded on the birth certificate.

What's the result?

After the decision on the case is announced, it can be appealed by interested parties (biological father, guardianship) to a higher court within 10 days. If this does not happen, the court decision comes into force.

The adoptive parent or his legal representative can obtain a court decision that has entered into force where the case was heard. Please note that several copies of the court decision are issued, and the copies must be:

stitched (if the solution is contained on more than 1 sheet)
numbered
certified by the seal of the court
there must be a mark indicating that the decision has entered into legal force

To receive documents, the adoptive parent will need to have a passport with him.

Subsequently, a copy of the court decision must be submitted to the guardianship and trusteeship authority at the child’s place of residence and to the registry office for re-issuance of the birth certificate.

How to get a new birth certificate after adopting a child by a stepfather?

A new birth certificate (in which the adoptive parent will be recorded as the father) is issued by the civil registry office at the place of registration of the child. To receive a certificate, the adoptive parent must appear at the registry office (the child’s mother cannot do this without the appearance of the adoptive parent and her presence is not necessary) and provide the following documents:

adoptive parent's passport
child's birth certificate
marriage certificate with the child's mother
court decision (a court seal confirming the entry into force of the decision is required)

Directly at the reception at the birth registration department of the civil registry office, the adoptive parent fills out an application with a request to be recorded as a parent on the birth certificate.

Based on the documents provided, the civil registry office employee issues to the adoptive parent:

new birth certificate

This birth certificate looks like a regular birth certificate. In it, the child’s surname and patronymic are recorded in accordance with the court decision, that is, if the claim requested a change in the child’s surname to the adoptive parent’s surname and a corresponding change in the patronymic, then these changes will be reflected in this birth certificate. At the request of the adoptive parent, a record of his nationality can be made in the certificate.

The surname of the child's mother will be recorded as of the current moment (and not at the time of the child's birth), even if it changed after marriage to the adoptive parent.

adoption certificate

The document indicates the old and new full names of the child being adopted and by whom he was adopted.

There is no fee for issuing a new birth certificate after the adoption of a wife’s child by a stepfather.

After receiving the birth certificate, the adoptive parent (now the father) can contact the passport office at the place of registration to put a mark about the child in the passport.

Attention! Check the relevance of the documents specified in the article! Legislation does not stand still, changing every day! The article was written in 2013.

Procedure

The first step in the process of adopting a child in a civil marriage is submitting an application to the civil registry office to establish paternity. The corresponding document can be submitted both before and after the official registration of the baby. If, for good reason, the mother of a minor cannot be present when submitting the application, her signature must be notarized. After submitting the application, which is accompanied by the necessary package of documents, the next important step is timely payment of the state fee.

Important! If common-law spouses decide to register their marriage officially, in this case the adoption will occur automatically, with the written consent of the father. The appropriate changes will be made to the baby's birth certificate immediately.

Adoption of an adult child

Federal Law No. 48 “On Guardianship and Trusteeship” regulates that the process of adopting a child who has reached the age of majority is not allowed. In relation to these persons, only paternity can be established. To do this, the applicant will need to obtain the consent of an adult to carry out the relevant procedure.

If the child was recognized as partially or completely incompetent, then in this case, in order to establish paternity, the written consent of his guardian or trustee will be required.

If the mother is absent

You can claim rights to a child born in a civil marriage in the absence of a mother if:

her whereabouts are unknown or declared missing by the court;
she is declared completely incompetent;
deprived of parental rights.

To officially adopt a child, the natural father must officially declare his rights by submitting all the necessary documentation to the Office of Guardianship and Trusteeship at the place of residence. After receiving the appropriate permission from authorized persons, the father submits an application to the civil partnership registration service.

How to simplify the adoption procedure for single mothers?

It is much easier for a stepfather to adopt his wife’s child if she is a single mother. In this case, the biological father's permission is not required.

A positive result will depend only on the positive characteristics of the stepfather and documents approved by the guardianship commission.

If there is a dash in the father column, then you can try to establish paternity without going through the adoption procedure. This will be a formal acknowledgment of paternity process.

To do this you need:

Marriage certificate.
Two passports (stepfather and mother of the child).
Child's birth certificate.
Bring your documents to the nearest registry office.
Write a statement to establish paternity, indicating that you are the father of the baby, but the marriage took place after his birth.
According to this statement, the registry office makes changes to the vital records, changing the child’s last and patronymic names. Issues a new birth certificate.

This procedure is possible from the birth of the child until he reaches adulthood.

The only thing that can interfere with this process is the desire of the biological father to prove his relationship with the child through the court by doing a DNA examination.

There is a clause in Russian legislation that information about adoption must be kept secret. Telling third parties about this is strictly prohibited. No one should know that the child is not his own. But in fact, so many strangers are involved in the adoption process that it will be almost impossible to keep the secret.

Comments from adoption lawyer Ekaterina Akatova:

“In the matter of adopting a wife’s son/daughter, great attention must be paid to the collection of documents. The required list of documents is quite large; you will need both a police clearance certificate and medical

examination, both of the child and the adoptive parent and many certificates characterizing the alleged father. If you make a mistake or delay when completing any paper, the whole process may be disrupted and you will have to start all over again, because many documents from the required list also have an “expiration date.”

Therefore, when you decide to tackle the issue of adoption, try to approach it responsibly and do everything promptly, so that in the future you don’t have to waste time on re-collecting expired certificates.”

Requirements for a future father

Legal registration of relations with a child of a spouse from a previous marriage is usually regulated by general rules. The procedure for adopting a child by a stepfather involves applying to the appropriate guardianship authority with a full package of the following mandatory documents:

Autobiography
Medical certificates characterizing health
Certificate of no criminal record
A copy of the marriage certificate with the child’s mother
A copy of the document on the right of use or ownership of housing
A copy of the child's birth certificate.

You no longer have to worry about what documents the stepfather needs to submit to the court for the adoption of a child. The regulatory body requires exactly the same set, in addition, some of the papers are provided to the court by the guardianship authority. Please note that health and criminal records certificates are valid for six months, and other documents from the list are valid for a year.

It is worth noting that for the future parent who already lives with the child and his mother, there are some concessions. In such a situation, the stepfather will not need to take special courses on psychological readiness for parenting and prove the appropriate financial status.

The procedure for assigning a surname to a child if the parents did not register their relationship

In the modern world, people are in no hurry to officially register their relationships and often give birth to children in such a union. In this case, the question inevitably arises: is it possible to give the child the father’s surname if we are not registered. The legislation, which is also in force in 2021, allows us to solve this problem.

If at the time of the baby’s birth, mom and dad did not register their relationship, the child can be given the surname of one of them. To make a record of the father, paternity must be officially recognized. To do this, the father must write a corresponding statement. If the relationship is not registered, the parent is not required to go through the adoption procedure.

It is more difficult when the father is not listed in the documents at all. In this case, the surname is written in accordance with the full name of the baby’s natural mother. The patronymic name is set whatever the woman wishes.

Establishing the baby's initials is one of the many problems that arise when he is born in a civil marriage. Another difficulty is establishing paternity, especially if the blood parent does not recognize his child.

If a man does not want to acknowledge his paternity, an entry about the father can be made by a court decision. Thus, the child can be given the father's surname if the marriage is not registered.

In the event that paternity has not been established at the time of issuing the birth certificate, the baby will receive the mother's surname. Once paternity is established in court, it can be changed

When a child is born out of wedlock, it is important to take into account that if the parent recognizes the child as his own, his presence when receiving the birth certificate is mandatory

When a child is born out of wedlock, it is important to take into account that if the parent recognizes the child as his own, his presence when receiving the birth certificate is mandatory. Because he has to write a paternity statement

Otherwise, the fact that the child has a father will not be confirmed and the child will receive the mother’s surname.