Adoption of Children Act 2022 · Updated to 15 Oct 2024 · Part 4 · Post-Adoption Matters
46. Effect of adoption order on status of adopted child vis‑à‑vis adoptive parents and on citizenship
Official textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
Upon an adoption order being made —
all rights, duties, obligations and liabilities of the parent or parents or guardian or guardians of the adopted child, in relation to the future custody, care and control, maintenance and education of the adopted child, including all rights to appoint a guardian or to consent or refuse consent to marriage, are extinguished;
all the rights, duties, obligations and liabilities mentioned in paragraph (a) vest in and are exercisable by and enforceable against the adoptive parents or adoptive parent as though the adopted child were a child born to the adoptive parents or adoptive parent in a lawful marriage; and
in respect of the same matters and in respect of the liability of a child to maintain his or her parents, the adopted child stands to the adoptive parents or adoptive parent exclusively in the position of a child born to the adoptive parents or adoptive parent in a lawful marriage.
In a case where 2 individuals married to each other are the adoptive parents, the individuals stand to each other and to the adopted child in the same relation as they would have stood if they had been the lawful father and mother of the adopted child, and the adopted child stands to them respectively in the same relation as a child would have stood to a lawful father and mother respectively —
adopted child
“adopted child” means an individual (whether below 21 years of age or otherwise) in respect of whom an adoption order has been made;
in respect of the matters in subsection (1)(a), (b) and (c); and
for the purpose of the jurisdiction of any court to make orders as to the custody, care and control and maintenance of and right of access to children.
For the purpose of the law relating to marriage, an adoptive parent and all children and adopted children of the adoptive parent are deemed to be within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity.
adoptive parent
“adoptive parent” means an individual who adopts a child under an adoption order and, in the case of an adoption order made in favour of 2 applicants jointly, means either of the applicants;
Subsection (3) continues to have effect even if a person other than the adoptive parent of an adopted child adopts the same child under a subsequent adoption order.
child
“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;
An adoption order in itself does not affect the citizenship of an adopted child.
Terms defined in s 2
adopted child
Defined · s 2“adopted child” means an individual (whether below 21 years of age or otherwise) in respect of whom an adoption order has been made;
adoptive parent
Defined · s 2“adoptive parent” means an individual who adopts a child under an adoption order and, in the case of an adoption order made in favour of 2 applicants jointly, means either of the applicants;
child
Defined · s 2“child”, if age rather than descendancy is relevant, means an individual below 21 years of age;
court
Defined · s 2“court” means the Family Division of the High Court, a Family Court, or any court hearing an appeal against an order or a decision of the Family Division of the High Court or a Family Court, except in sections 48, 51, 66, 69, 70, 72 and 73 where “court” means a court of competent jurisdiction;
father
Defined · s 2“father”, in relation to an illegitimate child, means the biological father;
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Part 5
Confidentiality of Children Involved in Adoption Proceedings
Part 6
Regulation of Adoption Practices and Processes
Part 7
Enforcement
Part 8
General Provisions
Part 9