Adoption of the adult child of the partner: recognition of a twenty-year emotional bond

Hypothetical case study developed on the basis of our experience with families dealing with international matters, intended to illustrate the type of operations the Firm is able to structure and manage for clients with a similar profile; the scenario does not refer to any specific case actually handled.

A fifty-eight-year-old man, married for twelve years to a woman who has a now thirty-year-old son born from a previous relationship. For twenty years that young man has grown up with him: he accompanied him to middle school, he helped him with high school, he took part in his graduation, he lent him the money for the down payment on his first home. But for Italian law they are nothing to each other. They are not relatives, they are not heirs, they have no mutual rights. If the stepfather were to die tomorrow, the wife’s son would inherit nothing. If the young man had an accident, the stepfather could not make medical decisions for him. A twenty-year emotional bond, real and profound, that the law simply does not recognise. The adoption of an adult person is the instrument that the Civil Code makes available to fill this void, but the proceeding is not automatic: it requires the demonstration of specific requirements, the consent of several subjects, the absence of prejudice for the adopter’s biological children, and an investigation by the Court that can hold unexpected complexities, especially when there are legitimate heirs who see their own succession expectations change.

The case

A fifty-eight-year-old professional, owner of a business consultancy firm, married in a second marriage to a fifty-two-year-old woman. From the man’s first marriage two children were born, now in their thirties, economically independent. The wife has a thirty-year-old son, born from a relationship prior to the marriage, whom the man has raised since the young man was ten years old.

The relationship between the stepfather and the wife’s son developed over time as a parental relationship in every respect: family cohabitation during adolescence, economic support during the university studies, constant presence at the important stages of the young man’s life, an emotional bond that the young man himself defines as paternal and that is recognised by the whole family and social network.

The young man’s biological father is alive but interrupted relations with his son from the age of eight, limiting himself to paying the maintenance allowance until the son came of age. He has never contested the parental role assumed by the stepfather, but neither has he ever formalised a waiver of parental responsibility (which in any case ceased when the son came of age).

The couple turns to the Firm to give legal recognition to this bond, with a twofold motivation: on the one hand the desire of the young man and the stepfather to formalise a relationship that both felt to be filial; on the other the need to structure the succession position, since in the absence of adoption the wife’s son would have no inheritance rights towards the stepfather.

The challenge

The adoption of an adult person (artt. 291 ss. of the Civil Code) is a legal institution with its own characteristics, distinct from the adoption of a minor, which presents specific complexities when it is inserted in a family context with several nuclei and potentially conflicting interests.

Requirements and consents

The adopter must be at least eighteen years older than the adoptee (art. 291 c.c.): in the specific case the requirement was met (twenty-eight years’ difference), but the verification is the first mandatory step
The consent of the adoptee (the thirty-year-old) and the consent of the adopter’s spouse (the wife, biological mother of the young man) are necessary: both present and favourable in the specific case
The critical point is the assent of the adopter’s adult legitimate children (art. 297 c.c.): the two children of the man’s first marriage had to express their assent to the adoption. In the event of refusal, the Court can still proceed if the opposition is deemed unjustified, but a refusal would significantly complicate and lengthen the proceeding

Demonstration of the bond and of the interest of the adoptee

The Court must ascertain that the adoption corresponds to the interest of the adoptee and that the adopter is suitable from a moral and material point of view: it is not sufficient that the parties desire it, an objective foundation of the bond must emerge
Case law requires the demonstration of a consolidated emotional relationship and of an effective exercise of parental functions: in the specific case twenty years of documentable relationship, but the proof had to be organised systematically (documentation, testimonies, material evidence)
The Court could order an investigation through the social services or a technical assessment to examine the motivations and the genuineness of the bond, with a lengthening of the timescales

Succession implications and potential conflict

The adoption of an adult produces succession effects: the adoptee acquires the right to succeed the adopter as a legitimate child. This automatically changes the succession expectations of the adopter’s biological children, who would see their own share reduced.
Unlike the adoption of a minor, the adoption of an adult does not create a relationship of kinship with the adopter’s family: the adoptee does not acquire succession rights towards the grandparents. But the impact on the adoptive father’s inheritance share is nonetheless real and can generate resistance
The two children of the first marriage, although having a cordial relationship with the wife’s son, are unaware of the asset implications of a possible adoption: the management of the communication and the prevention of conflict are aspects as delicate as the legal ones

The solution

The Firm would structure the intervention on two parallel levels: the technical-legal preparation of the application and the management of the family relationships, with the aim of arriving at the Court with all the consents obtained and documentation that leaves no room for uncertainty on the merits of the application.

1. Preventive management of the consents and family relationships

Individual meetings with the two children of the adopter’s first marriage to illustrate the legal implications of the adoption, with particular reference to the succession effects. Transparency on the asset consequences would be the key to preventing resistance based on the fear of the unknown rather than on a real opposition
Support to the adopter in the family communication: structuring of a path in which the biological children can express doubts and receive concrete answers, without the matter being perceived as a fait accompli imposed by the father
Assessment of the appropriateness of a parallel succession planning act (will) that, while respecting the forced shares, makes transparent the adopter’s intention to treat all three children fairly, mitigating the economic concerns
Obtaining the formal assent of both children of the first marriage, documented for the subsequent filing with the Court
Informal verification of the position of the young man’s biological father: no intention to oppose the proceeding

2. Preparation of the application and of the evidentiary documentation

Drafting of the application to the competent Court, with a detailed exposition of the twenty-year relationship between adopter and adoptee: chronicle of the relationship, parental role played, consolidated emotional bond, motivations for the application
Systematic organisation of the documentation in support of the bond:
- Documentation of the family cohabitation during the young man’s adolescence (shared residence, historical civil registry certificates)
- Evidence of the economic support: transfers for the university fees, contribution to the purchase of the car, loan for the down payment on the young man’s property
- Photographic documentation of the family occasions (graduation, holidays, festivities)
- Testimonial statements from relatives, friends and colleagues attesting to the parental nature of the relationship
Attachment of the consents and assents: consent of the adoptee, consent of the adopter’s spouse, assent of the adopter’s adult children
Preparation of a preventive defensive memorandum on the effects of the adoption, to facilitate the Court’s assessment and prevent the need for evidentiary additions

3. Judicial phase

Filing of the application and management of the proceeding before the Court: in the specific case, the Court sets a hearing for the hearing of the adopter and the adoptee
Preparation of the adopter and the adoptee for the hearing: not to suggest pre-established statements, but to make them aware of the judge’s typical questions and of the importance of expressing with authenticity the nature of the relationship and the motivations for the application
Management of an evidentiary request of the Court: the judge would order the acquisition of information from the social services of the municipality of residence, a step that would lengthen the timescales but that would conclude with a favourable report
The Court issues the adoption judgment, ascertaining the existence of the legal requirements and the correspondence of the adoption to the interest of the adoptee

4. Post-judgment formalities

Transcription of the adoption judgment in the civil status registers of the municipality of birth of the adoptee
Addition of the adopter’s surname to that of the adoptee (typical effect of the adoption of an adult: the adoptee takes the adopter’s surname, placing it before their own)
Update of the civil registry documentation and of the civil status records
Advice on the succession effects produced by the judgment and revision of the adopter’s succession planning in light of the new family structure

The result

The intervention would develop over about ten months from the initial consultation to the transcription of the judgment, a time influenced by the evidentiary request of the Court that would lengthen the judicial phase.

Assent obtained from both children of the adopter’s first marriage, without family conflicts: the preventive management of the communication and the transparency on the succession implications avoid resistance that could compromise the proceeding
No opposition intervention by the biological father of the adoptee
Adoption judgment issued by the Court granting the application in full, without opposition by any of the subjects involved
The adoptee acquires the legal status of child of the adopter, with all the rights that derive from it: succession right, right to maintenance, legal bond recognised by the legal system
Adopter’s surname added to that of the adoptee, formalising also in civil registry terms a family belonging lived for twenty years
Adopter’s succession planning updated to reflect the new three-child structure, with testamentary provisions that guarantee fairness and transparency

A twenty-year emotional bond would finally obtain the legal recognition it deserves. The stepfather is now the father in every legal respect, and the young man has the rights that the daily relationship justifies but that the legal system, without a formal act, does not grant.

What clients tell us in similar cases

“For twenty years he was my father in everything except on the documents. He raised me, he paid for my university, he was the one who came to the meetings with the professors, he was the one I called when I needed help. My biological father is a name on a birth certificate, nothing more. When we decided to make official what for us had been obvious forever, we did not think it would be so complicated. The hardest part was not the Court: it was talking about it with his children, my stepbrothers. Not because we did not get along, but because inheritance was involved, and these things create tensions even in the best families. The lawyer handled that step with a sensitivity I did not expect from a legal professional. He spoke with them, he explained everything clearly, he reassured them. When they signed the assent, I understood that we would make it. Today the surname I bear is also his, and for the law I am his son as I have always been in life.”

Duration and team

The intervention could reasonably be completed in about ten months from the initial consultation, with the following involvement:

Lawyer specialised in family law, for the management of the entire proceeding of adoption of an adult: initial consultation, management of the consents and assents, drafting of the application, conduct of the judicial phase and post-judgment formalities
Advice on succession law, for the analysis of the inheritance implications of the adoption, the communication to the adopter’s biological children and the revision of the succession planning
Coordination with the social services, for the management of the Court’s evidentiary request

The direction of the case would be entrusted to a single point of contact, responsible both for the legal aspects and for the management of the family relationships, an aspect that in this type of proceeding is inseparable from the legal strategy.

Do you have a similar case?

If you have raised your partner’s child and want to give legal recognition to this bond, or if you have been raised by a parental figure who is not your biological parent, it is essential to rely on a professional who knows how to:

assess the existence of the requirements for the adoption of an adult person and the documentation necessary to demonstrate the consolidated emotional bond
preventively manage the consents and assents of the subjects involved, in particular of the adopter’s biological children, with sensitivity and transparency on the succession implications
prepare a solid and documented application that anticipates the Court’s possible evidentiary requests
address the complexities that may emerge from the presence of the adoptee’s biological parent
coordinate the effects of the adoption with the overall succession planning of the extended family

Our Firm specialises in family law with specific experience in adoptions of adults within reconstituted families. We approach every case with attention both to the legal aspects and to the relational ones, aware that in these proceedings the human dimension is inseparable from the legal one.

Please contact us for a confidential preliminary assessment

International adoption by a single person: when the law opens a path that few know about