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Introduction

Document Cited authorities 11 Cited in Related
AuthorNasreen Pearce/Richard Budworth
Pages1-3

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 The law in relation to adoption of a child has developed over many years since the Poor Law Act 1899. However, although it was recognised then that there was a need to protect the adopted child and his carers and give them legal recognition, it was not until the Adoption and Children Act 1926 that adoption became part of English law and received some legal recognition. The Act provided for the transfer of the custody rights and duties of the birth parents to the adopters. It set out the conditions which had to be satisfied before an application for adoption could be considered. It confirmed that on the making of an adoption order the adopted child would be treated as if born to the adopters. It did not, however, confer any proprietary or inheritance rights on the adopted child.

1.2 Between 1958 and 1975 there were a series of statutory provisions dealing with situations that arose as a result of reform of the law relating to children. Following the publication of the Houghton Report in 1972, the law on adoption was further amended and consolidated in the Children Act 1975 and further consolidated in the Adoption Act 1976, which came into force 1 January 1988. The 1976 Act provided the statutory framework of the law on adoptions subject to the several amendments until the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (ACA 2002), which came into force on 30 December 2005.

1.3 The ACA 2002 has been amended...

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