What is Adoption?
Adopting a child is a very important decision in your life. It’s a complex legal process, and if you work with a good lawyer, it’s going to make a huge difference. Adoption lawyers have decades of experience in guiding adoptive parents through the entire procedure.
Expert lawyers offer free, confident consultations to provide you with guidance and information so that you can choose the best solution for your situation. Call or contact us online to talk to a domestic adoption lawyer.
What kind of domestic adoption is taking place in Nepal?
Adoption means the process of accepting the son or daughter of another person as his or her son or daughter, the son or daughter of that person shall be deemed to be the son or daughter of the adopted person.
In the process of adoption, the adopted child is permanently separated from its biological parents and becomes the lawful child of the adoptive person with all the rights, duties, privileges and responsibilities inherited from the biological child.
As per Section 169 of the National Civil Code 2017:
Adoption is divided as domestic and inter-country adoption or international adoption.
Who could be adopted in Nepal?
A child may be adopted if he/she is:
(a) Age Limit
Children under the age of 14 are eligible for adoption. A person who has completed fourteen years of age is not allowed for adoption. However, the age limit does not apply to the relationship between three generations.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 173 of the National Civil Code 2017 Where the person to be adopted is an individual of three generations or a son or daughter born to the ex-husband of the wife, that person may be adopted even though he or she is fourteen years of age.
(b) Number of children
The person who gives birth to his children must have more than one child. That means that the person who has the only son or daughter at that time is not allowed to be adopted.
c) Higher level of relationship
A person who is in a higher degree of relationship than a person who adopts a son or a daughter is not allowed to be adopted.
3. General Criteria
A. Sensible and financially able adoptive parents:-
Adoptive parents must have a sound mind and not have a criminal record. They must be physically, mentally and emotionally stable, financially capable, and eligible under the National Civil Code of Nepal who do not have life-threatening medical conditions. If a person has a biological son or daughter, they must obtain permission from the district court.
Initially, they have to make an application to the court for the adoption of another child, disclosing his or her financial capacity to make arrangements for the maintenance, health care, education and care of the child, and if, upon seeking such a petition, it appears that the petitioner has such status, the court may grant him or her permission to adopt that child.
Pursuant to Section 174 of the National Civil Code 2017, the minimum age difference between the child and the adoptive parent shall not be less than twenty-five years. The age difference provision shall not apply to the adoption of a person within the three-generation relationship.
Married
No Child
The person who intends to adopt the son and daughter of another person shall not have his or her own son and shall have the right to adopt the child. If they have one child of gender, they are eligible for another child of gender. This means that the person who has a daughter cannot adopt a daughter, and the person who has a son cannot adopt a son.
Exception
If the biological son and daughter obtains a share of the property under the order of the court or lives separately under the law or lives separately after legal separation at that time, the court shall allow for adoption.
- A couple who haven’t had a child in ten years of marriage,
- Both spouses must consent to adoption in the case of a married couple.
Single
A single male or female with or without biological or adoptive children may be adopted provided that they satisfy the following:
(a) A single female may adopt a child of any sex if the child is forty-five years of age.
(b) Usually, a single male is not eligible to adopt a girl child around the world, but there are no restrictions in Nepal.
Documents requested for adoption
(a) Copy of the Prospective Adoptive Parent Citizenship Certificate and the Passport and Marriage Registration Document
(b) Certificate of identification that includes age, sex and other details of the child to be adopted;
(c) A document certifying the relationship of the prospective parent Adoptive
Alpana Bhandari is a founding partner and CEO of Prime Legal Consultants and Research Center. She graduated from American University Washington College of Law. She specializes in corporate/arbitration and family law.
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