Law of Wills, 2016A

4.3.2 Adult Adoption
Adoption is based in contract law. Thus, not surprising, in order to have the right to adopt, a
person must be legally capable of executing a contract. Hence, a person must be over the age of
majority in order to legally adopt a child. Most adoption statutes do not place specific age limits on
the persons adopted. Typically, when a person decides to adopt a child, that person intends to adopt
someone under the age of majority. However, some state adoption laws permit adults to be adopted.
Prior to the legalization of same-sex marriages, in order to be able to make medical decisions for
their partners, some gays and lesbians adopted their partners. This often became a problem when
the adopted partner tried to inherit from the deceased partner’s estate. There are several reasons why
someone might want to adopt another adult. 27 The cases in this section illustrate some of those
reasons. Even a person who is adopted as an adult loses connections to his or her biological family. 28
The right to inherit through the adoptive parents
Some courts strictly apply the adoption statute without considering the legislative intent or
the motives of the parties. Thus, if the statute permits the adoption of an adult, the court recognizes
the adoption regardless of the reason for the adoption. On the other hand, some courts evaluate the
motive behind the adult adoption to ascertain if that motive violates public policy. In those cases,
the courts exercise their discretion to decide whether or not to recognize the adoption and permit
the adopted child to inherit from the adoptive parent.
In the Matter of the Petition of P.A.L., 5 P.3d 390 (Colo. 2000)
KAPELKE, J.
P.A.L. von R. appeals from the judgment of the trial court dismissing the petition to adopt his adult
sister, K.M.F. We reverse and remand for entry of an adoption decree.
Petitioner filed his petition pursuant to § 14-1-101, C.R.S. 1999, together with a consent to the
adoption and a waiver and acceptance of service signed by his sister. Following an evidentiary
hearing, the trial court denied the petition. No party opposed the requested adoption.
The court found that petitioner, age 60, was seeking the adoption to allow his sister, a German
citizen, age 55, to change her name to the original family name. Petitioner stated that his sister had
been unable to effect the name change by any court proceeding in Germany, but that an adoption
decree would be recognized.
The court also found that there was nothing in the statute that expressly prevented an adult from
adopting another adult of any age. However, the court indicated that it would exercise its discretion
and decline to decree the adoption because it appeared to the court to violate the public policy. The
27
Brynne E. McCabe, Adult Adoption: The Varying Motives, Potential Consequences, and Ethical Considerations, 22 Quinnipiac
Prob. L.J. 300 (2009).
28
See Kummer v. Donak, 715 S.E. 2d 7 (Va. 2011)(Adult adoption of a woman prevented her children from inheriting
from her biological sister).
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