Updated: Monday April 18, 2022/AlEthnien Ramadan 17, 1443/Somavara Chaitra 28, 1944, at 05:04:38 PM
ADOPTION OF CHILDREN
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1.
Short title.
2.
Interpretation.
3.
Power to make adoption
orders.
4.
Alien infants.
5.
Application by two spouses jointly.
6.
Restrictions on making
of adoption orders.
7.
Consent of parent or guardian.
8.
Matters with respect
to which court to be satisfied.
9.
Terms and conditions of order.
10.
Evidence of paternity.
11.
Effect of adoption order.
12.
Provisions relating to devolution of real and personal
property.
13.
Definition of relative.
14.
Prohibited degrees of consanguinity.
15.
Power of court to make interim order.
16.
Power to make subsequent order in case of infant subject to order.
17.
Rules.
18.
Court to appoint guardian
ad litem.
19.
Prohibition of payment or reward.
20.
Provisions as to existing de facto adoptions.
21.
Adopted children
Register.
22.
Minister may make certain rules.
SCHEDULE
Form of Entry to be Made in Register.
ADOPTION OF
CHILDREN
[Commencement 22nd July,
1954]
1.
This Act may be cited as the Adoption of Children Act.
2.
In this Act, unless
the context otherwise requires adopted child
means any infant authorised by the
court to be adopted;
adopter
means a person authorised by the court to
adopt an infant;
adoption
order means an order made under section
3 of this Act;
the court means the Supreme
Court;
infant means a person under
the age of eighteen; Registrar means the Registrar General and includes
the Assistant Registrar General;
Registry means the Registrar Generals Depart-
ment;
relative in relation to an infant means a grand-
parent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, whether of the full blood,
of the half blood or by affinity, and includes
(a)
where an adoption
order has been made in respect of the infant
or any other person, any person who would be a relative
of the infant within the meaning of this definition if the adopted person were the child of the adopter
born in lawful wedlock;
(b)
where the infant
is illegitimate, the father
of the infant and any person who would be a relative of the infant within the meaning of this definition if the infant were the legitimate child of its mother and father.
3.
Upon an application in the prescribed manner being made by any person desirous
of being authorised to
52 of 1954
46 of 1964
E.L.A.O., 1974
27 of 1976
5 of 1987
Short title. Interpretation.
27 of 1976, s. 2.
Power to make adoption orders.
Alien infants.
Application by two
spouses jointly.
Restrictions on making
of adoption orders.
27 of 1976
s. 2(3).
adopt an infant
who has never been married, the court may, subject to the provisions
of this Act, make an order (in this Act referred to as an adoption order)
authorising the applicant to adopt the infant, and it is hereby declared
that the power of the court to make adoption orders shall include
power to make an adoption
order authorising the adoption of an infant by the mother or father of the infant, either
alone or jointly
with her or his spouse.
4.
An adoption order may be made in respect of an infant who is not a British
subject.
5.
Where an application for an adoption order
is made by two spouses jointly the court may make the order authorising the two spouses
jointly to adopt, but save as aforesaid, no adoption order shall be made authorising more than one person to adopt an infant.
6.
(1) An adoption
order shall not be made unless the
applicant or, in the case of a joint application, one of the applicants
(a)
has attained the age of twenty-five and is at least twenty-one years older than the infant in respect of whom the application is made; or
(b)
has attained the age of eighteen and is a relative
of the infant; or
(c)
is the mother or father
of the infant.
(2)
An adoption order shall not be made in any case where the sole applicant
is a male and the infant in respect
of whom the application is made is a female
unless the court
is satisfied that there are special circumstances which justify
as an exceptional measure the making
of an adoption order.
(3)
An adoption order shall not be made upon the application of one of two spouses without
the consent of the other of them:
Provided that the court may dispense
with any consent
required by this subsection
if satisfied that the person
whose consent is to be dispensed with cannot be found
or is incapable of giving
such consent or that the spouses have separated and are living apart and that the separation is likely to be permanent.
7.
(1) An adoption order shall not be made except with the consent of every person
or body who is
a parent or guardian of the infant, or who is liable by virtue of any
order or agreement to contribute to the maintenance of the infant:
Provided that the court may dispense
with any consent
required by this subsection if it is satisfied
(a)
in the case of a parent or guardian of the infant,
that he has abandoned, neglected or persisently ill-treated the infant;
(b)
in the case of a person liable as aforesaid to contribute to the maintenance of the infant,
that he has persistently neglected or refused
so to contribute;
(c)
in any case, that the person whose consent
is required cannot be found, or is incapable of giving
his consent or that his consent is unreasonably withheld.
(2) The consent of any person to the making of an adoption order in pursuance
of an application may be given (either unconditionally or subject to conditions
with respect to the religious persuasion in which the infant is to be brought up) without knowing the identity of the applicant for the order; and where consent so given by any person is subsequently withdrawn on the ground only that he does not know the identity of the applicant, his consent
shall be deemed for the
purposes of this section to be unreasonably withheld.
(3) Where any person
whose consent to the making of an adoption
order is required by this section
does not attend in the proceedings for the purpose of giving it, a document signifying his consent to the making of such an order shall, if the person in whose favour the order is made is named or otherwise described
in the document, be admissible as evidence of that consent,
whether the document
is executed before or after the commencement of the proceedings; and where any such document is attested by a justice of the peace or notary public (or, if executed
outside The Bahamas, by a person of any such class as may be prescribed
by rules made under this Act), the document shall be admissible
as aforesaid without further proof of the signature of the person by whom it is executed:
Consent of parent or guardian.
Conditional consent.
Admissibility of written consent.
Consent of mother of infant.
Custody of infant when application
pending.
Matters with respect to which
court to be satisfied.
Provided that a document signifying the consent of the mother of an infant shall not be admissible as aforesaid unless
(a)
the infant is at least six weeks old on the date of the execution of the document; and
(b)
the document
is attested on that date by a justice of the peace or notary public or, as the case may be, by a person or a class prescribed as aforesaid.
(4) While an application for an adoption
order in respect of an infant is pending in any court, any parent or guardian of the infant who has signified
his consent to the making of an adoption order in pursuance of the application shall not be entitled,
except with the leave of the court, to remove the infant from the care and possession of the applicant; and in considering whether to grant or refuse such leave the court shall have regard to the
welfare of the infant.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, a document
purporting to be attested as mentioned in that subsection shall be deemed to be so attested and to be executed and attested on the date and at the place specified therein, unless the contrary is proved.
8.
The court before making an adoption order shall be satisfied
(a)
that every person whose consent
is necessary under this Act and whose consent is not dispensed
with has consented
to and understands the nature and effect of the adoption
order for which application is made and in particular in the case of any parent
understands that the effect
of the adoption order will be permanently to deprive him or her of his or her parental rights; and
(b)
that the order if made will be for the welfare of the infant,
due consideration being
for this purpose
given to the wishes
of the infant, having regard
to the age and understanding of the infant;
and
(c)
that the applicant
has not received or agreed to receive, and that no person has made or given,
or agreed to make or give to the applicant any payment
or other reward in consideration of the adoption
except such as the court may sanction.
9.
The court in an adoption order may impose such terms and conditions as the court may think fit and in particular may require the adopter by bond or otherwise to make for the adopted
child such provision (if
any) as in the opinion of the court is just and expedient.
10.
(1) Where in connection with any application for an adoption order any question
arises as to the paternity of an infant,
and, in order to decide
that question it is relevant
to determine whether
marital intercourse took place between
a husband and his wife during a particular period, evidence that such intercourse did not take place may be given in the proceedings on the application by either of the parties
concerned.
(2) A person who has given
such evidence as aforesaid
in any proceedings by virtue of this section may give the like evidence in any subsequent proceedings of whatever nature
in which that evidence
is relevant.
11.
Upon an adoption order being made all rights, duties,
obligations and liabilities of the parent
or parents, guardian
or guardians of the adopted
child in relation to the future custody,
maintenance and education of the adopted child, including
all rights to appoint a guardian
or to consent or give notice of dissent to marriage,
shall be extinguished and all such rights, duties, obligations and liabilities shall vest in and be exercisable by and enforc- eable against
the adopter as though the adopted child was
a child born to the adopter in lawful wedlock,
and in respect of the same matters and in respect
of the liability of a child to maintain its parents the adopted child shall stand to the adopter
exclusively in the position of a child born to the adopter in lawful wedlock:
Provided that, in any case where two spouses are the adopters, such spouses shall in respect of the matters aforesaid and for the purpose of the jurisdiction of any court to make orders as to the custody and maintenance of and right of access
to children 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 shall stand to them respectively in the same relation
as a child would have stood to a lawful
father and mother respectively.
Terms and conditions of order.
Evidence of paternity.
Effect of adoption order.
Provisions relating to devolution of real and personal property.
Definition of child
and children.
Dignity or title of honour.
12.
(1) The provisions of this and section
13 shall have effect for securing that adopted persons are treated as children
of the adopters for the purposes of the devolution or disposal of real and personal property.
(2)
Where, at any time after the making of an adoption order the adopter or the adopted person or any other person dies intestate in respect of any real or personal property (other than property subject to an entailed
interest under a disposition made before the date of the adoption order) that property shall devolve in all respects as if the adopted person were the child of the adopter born in lawful wedlock and were not the child of any other person.
(3)
In any disposition of real or personal property made, whether
by instrument inter vivos
or by will (including codicil),
after the date of an adoption order
(a)
any reference (whether express
or implied) to the child or children of the adopter shall be construed as, or as including, a reference
to the adopted
person;
(b)
any reference
(whether express or implied) to the child or children of the adopted persons natural parents or either of them shall be construed as not being, or not including, a reference
to the adopted person; and
(c)
any reference
(whether express or implied) to a person being
the relative of the
adopted person in any degree shall be construed as a reference
to the person who would be related to him in that degree if he were the child of the adopter born in lawful wedlock and were not the child of any other person,
unless the contrary intention
appears.
(4)
Where under any disposition any real or personal property
or any interest in such property is limited
(whether subject
to any preceding limitation or charge or not) in such a way that it would,
apart from this section,
devolve (as nearly as the law permits) along with a dignity or title of honour, then, whether
or not the disposition contains
an express reference
to the dignity or title of
honour, and whether or not the property or some interest in the property may in some event become severed therefrom,
nothing in this section shall operate to sever
the property or any interest
therein from the dignity,
but the property
or interest shall devolve
in all respects as if this section had not been enacted.
13.
(1) For the purposes of the application of theInheritance Act and the Law of Property
Act to the devolution of any property in accordance
with the provisions
of section 12 of this Act, and
for the purposes of the construction of any such disposition as is mentioned
in that section,
an adopted person shall be deemed to be the relative
of any other person being
the child or adopted
child of the adopter or (in the case of a joint adoption)
of either of the adopters
(a)
where he or she was adopted by two spouses jointly
and that other person is the child or
adopted child of both of them, as brother or sister of the whole blood;
(b)
in any other case, as brother
or sister of the half blood.
(2) Notwithstanding any rule of law, a disposition made by will or codicil
executed before
the date of an adoption
order shall not be
treated for the purposes of section
12 as made after that date by reason
only that the will or codicil is confirmed
by a codicil executed
after that date.
Definition of relative. Ch. 170.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in section 12 of this Act trustees or personal
representatives may convey or distribute any real or personal property to or among the persons entitled thereto, without having ascertained that no adoption order has been made by virtue of which any person is or may be entitled
to any interest therein and shall not be liable to any such person of whose claim they have not had
notice at the time of
the conveyance
or distribution; but nothing in this subsection
shall prejudice the right of any such person to follow the property, or any property representing it, into the hands of any person, other than a purchaser,
who may have received it.
(4) Where an adoption order is made in respect
of a person who has been previously
adopted, the previous
adoption shall be disregarded for the purposes of section 12 in relation to the devolution
of any property on the death of a person dying intestate
after the date of the subsequent adoption order and in relation to any disposi- tion of
property made after that date.
Trustees or personal representatives may convey or distribute real or personal estate.
Previous adoption to be
disregarded
Prohibited degrees of consanguinity.
Power of court to make interim
order.
Power to make subsequent order in case of infant
subject to order.
Rules.
14.
(1) For
the purpose of the law
relating to marriage
an adopter and the person whom he has been authorised to adopt under an adoption order shall be deemed to be within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity; and the provisions of this section shall continue to have effect notwithstanding that some person other than the adopter is authorised by a subsequent order to adopt the same infant.
(2) Where an adoption order
is made in respect
of an infant who is illegitimate, any affiliation order in force with respect to the infant, and any agreement whereby the father of the infant has undertaken to make payments
specifically for the benefit of the infant,
shall cease to have effect,
but without prejudice
to the recovery of any arrears
which are due under the affiliation order or the agreement
at the date of the adoption order:
Provided that where the infant is adopted by his mother, and the mother is a single woman, the order or agreement shall not cease to have effect by virtue of this subsection
upon the making of the adoption order, but shall
cease to have effect if she subsequently
marries.
15.
(1) Upon any application for an adoption order the court may postpone
the determination of the applica- tion and may make an interim order (which shall not be an adoption
order for the purposes of this Act) giving the custody of the infant to the applicant for a period not
exceeding two years by way of a probationary period upon such terms as regards provision
for the maintenance and education and supervision of the welfare of the infant and otherwise
as the court may think
fit.
(2) All such consents
as are required to an adoption order shall be necessary to an interim order but subject to
a like power on the part of the court to dispense with any
such consent.
16.
An adoption
order or an interim order may be made in respect of an infant who has already
been the subject of an adoption
order, and in such case the adopter or adopters under the adoption
order last previously made shall, if living,
be deemed to be the parent or parents
of the infant for all the purposes
of this Act.
17.
Rules in regard
to any matter to be prescribed under this Act and directing
the manner in which applications to the court
are to be made
and
dealing
generally with all matters
of procedure and incidental matters arising out of this Act and for carrying this Act into effect shall be made under section 76 of the Supreme Court Act. Such rules may provide for applications for adoption orders being heard and determined
otherwise
than in open court.
18.
(1) For the purpose of an application under this Act the court
shall appoint some person or body to act as guardian
ad litem of the infant upon the hearing
of the application with the duty of safeguarding the interests of the infant
before the court.
(2) On the determination of
an application, or on the making
of an interim order, the court may order the applicant to pay the costs of the application or such part thereof
as the court thinks proper and may enforce any such order against all persons bound thereby in the same manner as a judgment to the same effect.
For the purposes
of this subsection the costs
of an application shall be taken to
include such sums
as the court may fix in respect of the out of pocket
expenses incurred by the guardian
ad litem appointed under subsection (1) of
this section and shall be taken to include also such sums as the court may fix for the services
of counsel on behalf of the infant.
19.
(1) It shall not be lawful for any adopter, or for
any parent or guardian except
with the sanction
of the court, to receive any payment or other reward in consideration of the adoption
of any infant under this Act,
or for any person to make or give or agree to make or give to any adopter
or any parent or guardian
any such payment or reward.
(2) It shall not be lawful for any person
to publish or cause to be published
any advertisement indicating
(a)
that the parent or guardian
of a child is desirous of causing the child to be adopted;
or
(b)
that a person is desirous of adopting a child.
(3) Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this section
shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
two hundred dollars.
Ch. 53.
46 of 1964, Sch.
Court to appoint
guardian ad litem.
Costs.
Prohibition of payment or reward.
Prohibition of advertisement.
Penalty.
5 of 1987, s. 2.
Provisions as to existing de facto adoptions.
Adopted Children Register.
Particulars to be
entered in Adopted Children Register.
Schedule.
20.
Where at the date of the commencement of this Act any infant is in the custody of, and being brought
up, maintained and educated by any person
or two spouses jointly
as his, her or their own child under any de facto
adoption, and has for a period of not less than two years before
such commencement been in such custody, and
been so brought up, maintained and educated, the court may, upon the application of such person
or spouses, and notwithstanding that the applicant is a male and the infant
a female, make an adoption
order authorising him, her or them to adopt the infant without requiring
the consent of any parent or guardian
of the infant to be obtained,
upon being satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case it is just and equitable and for the welfare of the infant that no such consent should be required
and that an adoption order should be made.
21.
(1) The Registrar
shall establish and maintain at the Registry
a register to be called the Adopted
Children Register,
in which shall
be made such entries
as may be directed
to be made therein by adoption orders,
but no other entries.
(2)
Every adoption
order made after the commence- ment of this Act shall contain a direction
to the Registrar to make in the Adopted Children
Register an entry in the form set out in the Schedule
to this Act, and (subject
to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section) shall specify
the particulars to be entered under the headings in columns
2 to 6 of that Schedule.
(3)
For the purposes of compliance with the require- ments of subsection (2)
(a)
where the precise date of the infants birth is not proved to the satisfaction of the court, the court shall determine the probable
date of his birth and the date so determined shall be specified in the order
as the date of birth;
(b)
where the name or surname which
the infant is to bear after the adoption
differs from his original name or surname,
the new name or surname
shall be specified in the order instead of the original,
and where the country
of the birth of the infant is not proved
to the satisfaction of the court,
the particulars of that country
may, notwithstanding anything
in that subsection, be omitted from the order and from the entry in the Adopted
Children Register.
(4)
Where upon any application for an adoption order in respect of an infant
(not being an infant who has
previously been the subject
of an adoption order) there is proved to the satisfaction of the court the identity of the infant with a child to which
an entry in the Register
of Births relates, any adoption order made in pursuance of the application shall contain
a direction to the Registrar
to cause the entry in the Register
of Births to be marked with the word adopted.
(5)
Where an adoption
order is made in respect of an infant who has previously been the subject of an adoption order, the order shall contain a direction to the Registrar to cause the previous
entry in the Adopted Children Register to be marked with the word re-adopted.
(6)
Where an adoption order
is quashed, or an
appeal against an adoption order allowed, the court shall give directions to the Registrar to cancel any markings
of an entry in the Register of Births and any entry in the Adopted Children Register which
was effected in pursu-
ance of the order.
(7)
A copy of any entry in the Register of Births or the Adopted
Children Register the marking
of which is cancelled under this section
shall be deemed to be an
accurate copy if and only if both the marking
and the cancellation are omitted
therefrom.
(8)
The prescribed officer of the court
shall cause every adoption order to be communicated
in the prescribed manner to the Registrar, and upon receipt
of such communication the Registrar shall cause compliance to be made with the directions contained in such order in regard both to marking any entry in the Register
of Births with the word adopted, and in regard
to making the appropriate
entry in the Adopted Children
Register.
(9)
A certified copy of any entry in the Adopted
Children Register if purporting to be sealed
or stamped with the seal of the Registrar
shall, without any further or other proof
of such entry
(a)
where the entry does not contain
any record of the date of the birth of the adopted child be received as evidence of the adoption to which
the
same relates; and
(b)
where the entry contains
a record of the date of the birth of the adopted
child shall be received
Marking of Register
of Births.
Duty of Registrar to cause entries
and markings to be made.
Admissibility of certified
copy of entry.
Amendment of order.
Public to have
right to search Adopted Children Register.
5 of 1987, Sch.
Minister may make certain
rules.
E.L.A.O., 1974.
not only as evidence of the adoption
to which the same relates but also as evidence
of the date of the birth or the country
of the birth of the adopted child to which the same relates
in all respects as though the same were a certified
copy of an entry in the Registers of Births.
(10) The court, after having made an adoption
order may, on the application of the adopter
or of the adopted person,
amend the order by the correction of any error in the particulars contained therein;
and where an adoption order is so amended
the prescribed officer
of the court shall cause the amendment to be communicated in the prescribed manner to the Registrar and any necessary correction of or addition to the Adopted
Children Register shall be made accordingly.
(11) The Registrar shall cause an index of the Adopted
Children Register to be made and kept in the Registry
and every person shall be entitled
to search such index and to have a certified
copy of any entry in the Adopted Children
Register upon payment of a fee of two dollars for each such search and five dollars for each such certificate.
(12) The Registrar shall,
in addition to the Adopted Children Register and the index thereof,
keep such other registers and books, and make such entries therein as may be necessary,
to record and make traceable
the connection between any entry
in the Register
of Births which has been marked adopted pursuant
to this Act and any corre- sponding
entry in the Adopted Children
Register, but such last-mentioned registers and books shall not be, nor shall any index thereof be, open to public inspection or search,
nor, except under order of the court, shall the Registrar
furnish any person with any information contained
in or with any copy or extract
from any such registers or books.
22.
It shall
be lawful for the Minister responsible for the Registry
of Records from time to time to make rules with respect to the duties to be performed by the Registrar
in the execution of this Act.
SCHEDULE
(Section 21)
FORM OF ENTRY TO BE MADE IN REGISTER
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8
No. of entry. |
Date and country of birth of child. |
Name and surname
of child. |
Sex of child. |
Name and surname, address
and occupation of adopter or adopters. |
Date of adoption order and
description of court by which
made. |
Date of entry. |
Signature of offi-
cer deputed by Registrar General to attest the
entry. |
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Courtesy: __________________________
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