January,8,2017:
CARA, Central Adoption Resource Authority, is a Central Government body which monitors and regulates all Adoptions in the Country.
Parents can adopt children through National Adoption body & have a "legal relationship" with those children as per new norms.
The latest regulations will come into effect from 16th January, which also allow relatives to adopt children.
CEO, Central Adoption Resource Authority, Lt Col Deepak Kumar said that there's no law in India which defines a legal relationship between a step parent & a step child & a step child cannot claim a step parent's property. Nor the step child is legally obliged to look after the step parent in her or his old age.
Earlier, only an abandoned or orphan or surrendered child was allowed to be adopted. Now the govt. has expanded the eligibility for adoption to include "a child of a relative & child of spouse from earlier marriage or surrendered by the biological parents."
For adoption by a relative, prospective parents need to seek consent from biological parents if they are alive, otherwise they will have to seek permission from a Child Welfare Committee.
To make adoption simpler, the age criteria for prospective adoptive parents has also been removed.
As per law, the adoptive family can't adopt a child of the same gender as their own child/grand-child/great- grandchild. When adopting a child of the opposite gender the prospective parent must be at-least 21 years older than the child.
Once the child becomes a major, she/he is free to break all the connections and such a child doesn't have any legal right of inheritance.
Adoption Regulations, 2017 by latest laws team on Scribd
Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children, 2015 PDF by latest laws team on Scribd
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