Adoption of a minor by a single person

Verified 01 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You can to adopt a minor alone even if you are married or in pairsunder certain conditions. The proceedings take place before the court of law. It is the adoptive parent who must apply for adoption. Adoption produces effects, in particular as regards parentage, of parental authority and maintenance obligations. We present you with the information you need to know.

Adoption may be single or full.

In the case of simple adoption, the links with the original family are maintained.

In the case of adoption by the plenaryYes, there's a total failure the adopted person's ties to his familyorigine.

Simple

Simple adoption creates a parent-child relationship, without severing ties between the adopted person and his family of origin.

Age

You must have over 26 years.

Age difference between the adopter and the adopted

You must have 15 more years than the adopted one.

The court can still order adoption if the age difference is less than 15 years for the right reasons, for example if you adopt a sibling.

Who shall I contact

FYI  

you can adopt alone, but if you are married and not separated or united by a Civil partnership, the other member of the couple must consent to this adoption.

A minor is adoptable if any of the following occurs:

  • Minor whose full adoption is not possible (for example, in the case of the adoption of a minor foreigner when the full adoption does not exist in the country of origin)
  • State Pupil

Warning  

if the minor is over 13 years of age, he must give his consent before a notary. If it is unable to consent, the court must seek the opinion of a ad hoc administrator.

Adoption between grandparents and grandchildren and between siblings is in principle forbidden, unless there are serious grounds.

1. Application for approval

You must obtain prior approval if you wish to adopt a government ward, a child foreigner or a child of the family.

Warning  

you do not need an authorization if you adopt a child of your Civil partnership, partner or partner. You also do not need approval if you adopt a child who is related or married until the sixth grade degree (first cousin).

2. Application for adoption

Once approved, you must file your adoption application with the services of the Department of Social Welfare for Children (ASE).

Who shall I contact

You are automatically entered on a departmental list that allows you to be chosen as an adoptive member by the family council of the wards of the State.

Please note

in case adoption of a child abroad, you should contact the French Adoption Agency or a body authorized for international adoption.

3. Procedure before the court

You send your request on free paper or using the form cerfa n°15737 to the public prosecutor.

Motion for simple adoption of a minor by an individual

The request must be filed or sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt to the court of your residence.

Who shall I contact

You can apply for adoption without a lawyer if the minor you are seeking adoption has been taken from your home before he turned 15.

The use of a attorney is required if the adopted person has been received after 15 years.

If you are under-resourced, you can request legal aid.

After a review, the clerk will notify the decision.

You can challenge the decision before the court of appeal in a 15-day period.

Who shall I contact

FYI  

the death of the adopter after the filing of the application does not terminate the proceedings before the court.

4. Transcription on civil status records

The decision pronouncing simple adoption shall be mentioned in the margin of the adopted person's birth certificate. This entry shall be made at the request of the Public Prosecutor within 15 days of the date on which it passed by force of res judicata.

Where the adopted person was born abroad, the decision shall be entered in the registers of the Central Civil Registry Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

If the simple adoption is ordered by the judge, several effects will occur.

Link to the original family

The adopted person retains all his ties to his family of origin.

Parental authority

You exercise parental authority.

Maintenance obligation

The adoption created between the adopted person and you creates a maintenance obligation reciprocal. If the adopted child is in need, you must provide financial assistance, depending on your resources. Similarly, the adoptee owes financial assistance to the adoptive parent if the latter is in need.

The biological parents of the adopted child should not in principle provide financial assistance. They are only required to provide financial assistance if the adoptee proves that he or she cannot obtain assistance from his or her adoptive parent.

Name and surname of the adopted person

Your name is added to the adopted person's name or replace it. In the latter case, the adopted, if he's over 13, must give its consent.

You can apply to the court for a name change of the adopted. If the minor is over 13 years of ageThen he has to agree.

Nationality

Simple adoption does not allow the adopted child to acquire French nationality automatically. A child who has been the subject of a simple adoption by a Frenchman must apply for it by making a statement.

Succession

The adopted inherits the 2 families (home and adoptive parents).

However, he's not heir in title to her adoptive grandparents. They can disinherit it.

Marriage

Marriage is prohibited between the adopted person and his family of origin, as well as in the adoptive parent's family.

Revocation

Only the public prosecutor's office may request revocation (i.e. annulment) of the adoption, where the adopted person is a minor.

plenary session

Plenary adoption creates a link of parentage between the adopter and the adopted. The bonds between the adopted child and his or her family of origin are severed.

Age of adoptive parent

You must have more than 26 yrs.

Warning  

there is no age requirement if you adopt the child of your spouse, Civil partnership partner or common-law partner.

Age difference between the adopter and the adopted

You must have 15 more years that the adopted (the rule is different in the case of adoption of the child of the person with whom you live in a couple).

However, the court may grant a waiver on reasonable grounds (e.g. adoption of a sibling).

FYI  

you can adopt alone, but if you are married and not separated or united by a Civil partnership, the other member of the couple must consent to this adoption.

Adoption between grandparents and grandchildren and between siblings is prohibited in principle, unless there are serious grounds.

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Child under 15 years

A minor may be adopted if he or she is in one of the following situations:

Warning  

if the child has over 13 years, he must give his consent before a notary. If it is unable to consent, the court must seek the opinion of a ad hoc administrator.

Child over 15 years

A minor may be adopted if he or she is in one of the following situations:

Plenary adoption of a minor over 15 years is possible in the following 2 cases:

  • The adopter took the minor into his home before he turned 15, but he did not meet the conditions for adoption
  • The adoptive parent adopted the minor before the age of 15 in a simple form

In these 2 cases, you can ask for its adoption until he turns 21.

Warning  

the minor must give his consent in front of a notary.

1. Application for approval

You must obtain prior approval.

2. Placement of the minor for adoption

Once the approval has been obtained, the minor is entrusted to you by the authority responsible (ASE...).

The minor must be entrusted to you at least 6 months before the adoption application can be brought before the court.

During the placement period, you can complete the customary acts of parental authority.

3. Procedure before the court

You make your request on free paper or using cerfa form no. 15742 to public prosecutor.

Motion for full adoption of a child by an individual

The request must be filed or sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt to the court of your residence.

Who shall I contact

You can apply for adoption without recourse to a lawyer if the person you are seeking adoption has been taken from your home before he turned 15.

The use of a lawyer is mandatory if the adopted child was taken after 15 years of age.

If you don't have enough resources, you can legal aid.

The court checks whether the legal conditions for adoption are met. He may cause an inquiry to be made and any examination which he considers necessary. The judge may or may not accept the adoption. It may adopt the simple text even if it has received a request for full adoption.

The clerk will notify the decision rendered. You can challenge the decision before the court of appeal in a 15-day period.

The procedure is different in case adoption of a child abroad.

Who shall I contact

FYI  

the death of the adopter after the filing of the application does not relieve the court of jurisdiction.

4. Transcription on civil status records

The decision pronouncing full adoption shall be recorded in the civil registration records of the adopted person's place of birth. This transcription shall be made at the request of the Public Prosecutor, within 15 days of the date on which the decision was taken by force of res judicata.

Where the adopted person was born abroad, the decision shall be entered in the registers of the Central Civil Registry Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

If the full adoption is pronounced by the judge, several effects will occur.

Link to the original family

The adopted person acquires a new parentage which replaces the original.

A new birth certificate is issued.

The original birth certificate is canceled and can no longer be communicated.

The adoptee is written on your family booklet.

Parental authority

You (the adoptive parent) have sole parental authority.

Maintenance obligation

The adoption created between the adopted person and you creates a maintenance obligation reciprocal.

If the adopted child is in need, you must provide financial assistance, depending on your resources. Similarly, the adoptee may need to provide you with material assistance.

Surname and first name

The adopted takes the name of the adopter which replaces its original name.

It is possible to ask the judge for a name change of the adopted.

If the adopted has over 13 yearsThen he has to agree.

Nationality

The adopted minor automatically acquires the French nationality as long as the adoptive parent is French. He was then considered French from birth.

Marriage

The marriage is prohibited between the adopted person and his family of origin, as well as in the family of the adopting person.

Right to succession

The adopted minor has right to inheritance of adoptive parents.

Since his ties to his family of origin had been severed, he did not inherit from that family and it did not inherit from him.

The plenary adoption is irrevocable. A parent can't change his or her mind.

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