An Act to amend the law with respect to Brought from the Lords 6 March 1924. Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 3 June 1924. To be purchased directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; or 120, George Street, Edinburgh; ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES. Clause. 1. Provisions for the adoption of children. 2. Adoptions to be sanctioned by judges. 3. Conditions of adoption. 4. Persons whose consents to adoption are to be obtained. 5. Age limit of adopters. 6. Applications for sanction to be heard in camera. 7. Records. 8. Registration of adoptions. 9. Judge to have power to adjourn application pending inspection and inquiry. 10. Abrogation of adoptions. 11. Prohibition of marriage between adopter and child. 12. Rules of Court. 13. Short title. 5 10 15 Make further provision for the Adoption of WHEREAS children have been and are being trans ferred to persons other than their natural parent or parents under invalid agreements, formal and informal, purporting to be agreements for adoption : And whereas it is desirable for the welfare of such children and in the interest of other parties to such agreements that such agreements heretofore entered into or hereafter to be entered into should, in proper cases, be legalised: Now, therefore, be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows: A.D. 1924. children. 1. It shall be lawful for the parents or guardians or Provisions next of kin, or any other person, society or authority who for the or which shall have the lawful custody of the child or adoption of who or which in the opinion of the court shall be regarded as interested in the permanent welfare of a child, to 20 surrender in favour of another person or two persons being husband and wife (hereinafter called "the adopter " or adopters ") all their rights of control over such child, and as from the date of such surrender being sanctioned by the court as hereinafter provided, such 25 child shall be subject to the sole control of and be 66 A.D. 1924. entitled to succeed to the property of the adopter or adopters to the same extent as would have been the case if such child had in fact been the lawful child of the adopter: Provided always that such child shall not have any fight of succession to the property of a 5 relative of the adopter or adopters dying intestate, nor under any testamentary or other disposition made by a person other than the adopter or adopters in favour of the issue of the adopter or adopters unless it appears that it was the intention of the testator or settlor as 10 the case may be to include adopted children as objects of such disposition. Adoptions to be sanctioned by judges. Conditions Nothing in this Act shall prevent a guardian or next of kin or other such person as aforesaid from applying that he/she shall be appointed as adopter of the child. 15 An adopted child and its adopter shall respectively be under the same liabilities with regard to maintenance and support as the liabilities subsisting between parent and child. 2. No such surrender and adoption as is herein- 20 before provided for shall be valid or take effect until the same shall have been sanctioned by a judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice or a judge of county courts. The county court to which application for such sanction shall be made shall be 25 the court in the district in which the adopter or the person surrendering such child or the child is resident at the date of the application. And all subsequent proceedings relating to such surrender and adoption shall, unless or until the matter has been transferred 30 to some other court, be made to the court to which the original application was made. 3. Before sanctioning any such surrender and of adoption, adoption as aforesaid the judge shall satisfy himself— (a) that all necessary consents have been obtained; 35 (b) that the proposed adopter or adopters are of good repute and fit and proper to have the care and custody of the child, and in a position to provide it with suitable and proper maintenance and education; (c) that the proposed adoption is likely to promote the welfare of the child. 40 |