Adoption Act 1958

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved


Adoption Act , 1958

(7 & 8 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 5

An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to the adoption of children.

Be it enacted by the Queen'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:—

I Adoption Orders

Part I

Adoption Orders

Making of adoption orders

Making of adoption orders

S-1 Power to make adoption orders.

1 Power to make adoption orders.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the court may, upon an application made in the prescribed manner by a person domiciled in England or Scotland, make an order (in this Act referred to as an adoption order) authorising the applicant to adopt an infant.

(2) An adoption order may be made on the application of two spouses authorising them jointly to adopt an infant; but an adoption order shall not in any other case be made authorising more than one person to adopt an infant.

(3) An adoption order may be made 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infant who has already been the subject of an adoption order under this Act or the Adoption Act, 1950, or any enactment repealed by that Act; and in relation to an application for an adoption order in respect of such an infant, the adopter or adopters under the previous or last previous adoption order shall be deemed to be the parent or parents of the infant for all the purposes of this Act.

(5) An adoption order shall not be made in England unless the applicant and the infant reside in England and shall not be made in Scotland unless the applicant and the infant reside in Scotland, subject however to section twelve of this Act.

S-2 Age and sex of applicant.

2 Age and sex of applicant.

(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, an adoption order shall not be made in respect of an infant unless the applicant—

(a ) is the mother or father of the infant;

(b ) is a relative of the infant, and has attained the age of twenty-one years; or

(c ) has attained the age of twenty-five years.

(2) An adoption order may be made in respect of an infant on the joint application of two spouses—

(a ) if either of the applicants is the mother or father of the infant; or

(b ) if the condition set out in paragraph (b ) or paragraph (c ) of subsection (1) of this section is satisfied in the case of one of the applicants, and the other of them has attained the age of twenty-one years.

(3) An adoption order shall not be made in respect of an infant who is a female in favour of a sole applicant who is a male, unless the court is satisfied that there are special circumstances which justify as an exceptional measure the making of an adoption order.

S-3 Care and possession of infants before adoption, and notification of local authority.

3 Care and possession of infants before adoption, and notification of local authority.

(1) An adoption order shall not be made in respect of any infant unless he has been continuously in the care and possession of the applicant for at least three consecutive months immediately preceding the date of the order, not counting any time before the date which appears to the court to be the date on which the infant attained the age of six weeks.

(2) Except where the applicant or one of the applicants is a parent of the infant, an adoption order shall not be made in respect of an infant who at the hearing of the application is below the upper limit of the compulsory school age unless the applicant has, at least three months before the date of the order, given notice in writing to the local authority within whose area he was then resident of his intention to apply for an adoption order in respect of the infant.

S-4 Consents.

4 Consents.

(1) Subject to section five of this Act, an adoption order shall not be made—

(a ) in any case, except with the consent of every person who is a parent or guardian of the infant;

(b ) on the application of one of two spouses, except with the consent of the other spouse;

and shall not be made in Scotland in respect of an infant who is a minor except with the consent of the infant.

(2) The consent of any person to the making of an adoption order in pursuance of an application (not being the consent of the infant) may be given (either unconditionally or subject to conditions with respect to the religious persuasion in which the infant is proposed to be brought up) without knowing the identity of the applicant for the order.

(3) The reference in paragraph (a ) of subsection (1) of this section to a parent of an infant does not include a reference to any person having the rights and powers of a parent of the infant by virtue of any of the following enactments, that is to say—

(a ) section seventy-five of the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, or sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 12 of the Fourth Schedule to that Act (which relate to the exercise of parental rights in respect of children and young persons who are committed to the care of fit persons or ordered to be sent to approved schools);

(b ) section seventy-nine of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937, or sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 12 of the Second Schedule to that Act (which make corresponding provision in Scotland);

(c ) section three of the Children Act, 1948 (which applies to children in respect of whom the local authority have assumed parental rights by resolution under section two of that Act).

S-5 Power to dispense with consent.

5 Power to dispense with consent.

(1) The court may dispense with any consent required by paragraph (a of section four of this Act if it is satisfied that the person whose consent is to be dispensed with—

(a ) has abandoned, neglected or persistently ill-treated the infant; or

(b ) cannot be found or is incapable of giving his consent or is withholding his consent unreasonably.

(2) If the court is satisfied that any person whose consent is required by the said paragraph (a ) has persistently failed with out reasonable cause to discharge the obligations of a parent or guardian of the infant, the court may dispense with his consent whether or not it is satisfied of the matters mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) Where a person who has given his consent to the making of an adoption order without knowing the identity of the applicant therefor subsequently withdraws his consent 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.

(4) The court may dispense with the consent of the spouse of an applicant for an adoption order if it is satisfied that the person whose consent is to be dispensed with cannot be found or is incapable of giving his consent or that the spouses have separated and are living apart and that the separation is likely to be permanent.

S-6 Evidence of consent of parent or guardian.

6 Evidence of consent of parent or guardian.

(1) Where a parent or guardian of an infant does not attend in the proceedings on an application for an adoption order for the purpose of giving his consent to the making of the order, then, subject to subsection (2) of this section, a document signifying his consent to the making of such an order shall, if the person in whose favour the order is to be made is named in the document or (where the identity of that person is not known to the consenting party) is distinguished therein in the prescribed manner, 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 as mentioned in subsection (3) of this section, it shall be admissible as aforesaid without further proof of the signature of the person by whom it is executed.

(2) A document signifying the consent of the mother of an infant shall not be admissible under this section 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 as mentioned in subsection (3) of this section.

(3) Any reference in this section to a document being attested as mentioned in this subsection is, if the document is executed in the United Kingdom, a reference to its being attested by either a justice of the peace or—

(a ) if it is executed in England, an officer of a county court appointed for the purposes of section eighty-four of the County Courts Act, 1934, or a justices' clerk within the meaning of section twenty-one of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1949;

(b ) if it is executed in Scotland, the sheriff;

and, if it is executed outside the United Kingdom, a reference to its being attested by a person of any such class as may be prescribed.

(4) For the purposes of this section a document purporting to be attested as mentioned in subsection (3) of this section shall be deemed to be so attested, and to be executed and attested on the date and at the place specified in the document, unless the contrary is proved.

(5) In the application of this section to Scotland, for the words ‘admissible as evidence’ and the word ‘admissible’ there shall be substituted the words ‘sufficient evidence’.

S-7 Functions of court as to adoption orders.

7 Functions of court as to adoption orders.

(1) 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...

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