Source: https://code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/titles/16/chapters/3/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 12:17:33+00:00

Document:
D.C. Law Library - Chapter 3. Adoption.
§ 16–302. Persons who may adopt.
§ 16–305. Petition for adoption.
§ 16–306. Notice of adoption proceedings.
§ 16–307. Investigation, report, and recommendation.
§ 16–308. Investigations when prospective adoptee is adult or petitioner is spouse or domestic partner of natural parent.
§ 16–310. Finality of decrees of adoption.
§ 16–311. Sealing and inspection of records and papers.
§ 16–312. Legal effects of adoption.
§ 16–313. Child as including adopted person.
(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia has jurisdiction to hear and determine petitions and decrees of adoption of any adult or child with authority to make such rules, not inconsistent with this chapter, as shall bring fully before the court for consideration the interests of the prospective adoptee, the natural parents, the petitioner, and any other properly interested party.
(4) the child to be adopted was born in the District of Columbia.
(c) The jurisdiction conferred upon the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by subsection (b)(4) of this section shall apply retroactively to all children born in the District of Columbia on or after July 18, 2009.
This section is referenced in § 16-4601.02.
The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-233 added (b)(4); added (c); and made related changes.
Exclusive adoption jurisdiction, see § 11-1101.
Any person may petition the court for a decree of adoption. A petition may not be considered by the court unless petitioner’s spouse, if he has one, joins in the petition, except that if either the husband or wife is a natural parent of the prospective adoptee, the natural parent need not join in the petition with the adopting parent, but need only give his or her consent to the adoption. If the marital status of the petitioner changes after the time of filing the petition and before the time the decree of adoption is final, the petition must be amended accordingly.
A person, whether a minor or an adult, may be adopted.
(a) A petition for adoption may not be granted by the court unless there is filed with the petition a written statement of consent, as provided by this section, signed and acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments, before a representative of a licensed child-placing agency, or before the Mayor of the District, or unless a relinquishment of parental rights with respect to the prospective adoptee has been recorded and filed as provided by section 4-1406.
(E) from the Mayor in any situation not otherwise provided for by this subsection.
(c) Minority of a natural parent is not a bar to that parent’s consent to adoption.
(d) When a parent whose consent is hereinbefore required, after such notice as the court directs, cannot be located, or has abandoned the prospective adoptee and voluntarily failed to contribute to his support for a period of at least six months next preceding the date of the filing of the petition, the consent of that parent is not required.
(e) The court may grant a petition for adoption without any of the consents specified in this section, when the court finds, after a hearing, that the consent or consents are withheld contrary to the best interest of the child.
(f) A person over eighteen years of age may be adopted, on the petition of the adopting parent or parents and with the consent of the prospective adoptee, if the court is satisfied that the adoption should be granted.
(g) The court may grant a petition for adoption without consent when there has been a relinquishment of parental rights and the termination of parental rights pursuant to [§ 4-1451.05].
This section is referenced in § 4-1451.05 and § 16-316.
D.C. Law 18-158, in the section heading, inserted “; exceptions”; and added subsec. (g).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 201 of Newborn Safe Haven Emergency Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-321, March 1, 2010, 57 DCR 1842).
(7) any change of name which may be desired.
When any of the above facts is unknown to the petitioner, the petitioner shall state this fact. When any of the above facts is known to the Mayor, or a licensed child-placing agency that as a matter of social policy declines to disclose them to the petitioner, the facts may be disclosed to the court in an exhibit filed by the Mayor or the agency with the court. If more than one petitioner joins in a petition, the requirements of this section apply to each.
This section is referenced in § 4-1305.03 and § 16-308.
(a) Except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, due notice of pending adoption proceedings shall be given to each person whose consent is necessary thereto, immediately upon the filing of a petition. The notice shall be given by summons, by registered letter sent to the addressee only, or otherwise as ordered by the court.
(b) A party who formally gives his consent to the proposed adoption, as provided by this chapter, thereby waives the requirement of notice to him pursuant to this section.
This section is referenced in § 16-4603.09 and § 23-581.
(2) the Mayor, if the case is not supervised by a licensed child-placing agency.
(D) any other circumstances and conditions that may have a bearing on the proposed adoption and of which the court should have knowledge, including the existence and terms of a tentative adoption subsidy agreement entered into prior to the filing of the adoption petition under section 3 of the Act of July 26, 1892 (§ 4-301).
(3) a recommendation to the court whether a final decree declaring the adoption prayed for in the petition should be immediately granted, or whether the court should grant an interlocutory decree granting temporary custody of the prospective adoptee to the petitioner, as hereinafter set forth.
(c) The written report submitted to the court shall be filed with, and become part of, the records in the case.
This section is referenced in § 4-342 and § 16-309.
For temporary provisions requiring, on an emergency basis, criminal background investigations for individuals residing in foster family homes or other homes in which children are placed by order, see § 2-15 of the Criminal Background Investigation for the Protection of Children Emergency act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-431, August 6, 1998, 45 DCR 5915) and § 2-11 of the Criminal Background Investigation for the Protection of Children Legislative Review Emergency Act of 1998 (D.C Act 12-505, November 20, 1998, 45 DCR 8134).
(2) The petitioner is a spouse or domestic partner of the natural parent of the prospective adoptee and the natural parents consents to the adoption or joins in the petition for adoption.
(b) In the circumstances specified in subsection (a)(2) of this section, the petition need not contain the information concerning race and religion as specified in § 16-305(4) and (5).
(c) For the purposes of this section, the term “domestic partner” shall have the same meaning as provided in § 32-701(3), but shall exclude a domestic partner who is the parent, grandparent, sibling, child, grandchild, niece, nephew, aunt, or uncle of the natural parent.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the requirements of §§ 4-1305.01 through 4-1305.09, including the requirement of a fingerprint-based criminal records check.
This section is referenced in § 16-307.
D.C. Law 18-33 rewrote the section.
D.C. Law 18-47 rewrote the section.
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Adoption and Safe Families Emergency Amendment Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-232, December 27, 2007, 55 DCR 233).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Adoption and Safe Families Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2008 (D.C. Act 17-317, March 19, 2008, 55 DCR 3415).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Adoption and Safe Families Continuing Compliance Emergency Amendment Act of 2008 (D.C. Act 17-559, October 27, 2008, 55 DCR 12010).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Adoption and Safe Families Continuing Compliance Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2009 (D.C. Act 18-2, January 23, 2009, 56 DCR 1622).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of the Adoption and Safe Families Temporary Amendment Act of 2008 (D.C. Law 17-133, March 26, 2008, law notification 55 DCR 4464).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of the Safe families Continuing Compliance Temporary Amendment Act of 2008 (D.C. Law 17-297, March 20, 2009, law notification 56 DCR 3008).
(a) Within a period of ninety days, or such time as extended by the court, after a copy of the petition and the order providing for the report is served upon the agency directed to make the investigation, the agency shall make the report and recommendation required by section 16-307 to the court and thereupon the court shall proceed to act upon the petition.
(4) the adoption form has been completed by the petitioner pursuant to [§ 7-231.19].
(b-1) In determining whether the petitioner will be able to give the prospective adoptee a proper home and education, the court shall give due consideration to any assurance by the Mayor that he will provide or contribute funds for the necessary maintenance or medical care of the prospective adoptee under an adoption subsidy agreement under § 4-301.
(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a final decree of adoption may not be entered unless the prospective adoptee has been living with the petitioner for at least 6 months (“6-month requirement”).
(2) A prospective adoptee shall be exempt from the 6-month requirement if he or she is 18 years of age or older.
(d) If it appears to be in the interest of the prospective adoptee, the court may enter an interlocutory decree of adoption, which shall by its terms automatically become a final decree of adoption on a day therein named, not less than six months nor more than one year, from the date of entry of the interlocutory decree, unless in the interim the decree shall have been set aside for cause shown. The supervising agency shall be permitted to visit the adoptee during the period of the interlocutory decree.
(e) The court may revoke its interlocutory decree for good cause shown at any time before it becomes a final decree, either on its own motion or on the motion of one of the parties to the adoption. Before the revocation, notice shall be given thereof to all those persons or parties who were given notice of the original petition for adoption, and an opportunity for all of them to be heard.
(f) All proceedings with reference to adoption shall be of a confidential nature and shall be held in chambers or in a sealed courtroom with as little publicity as the court deems appropriate.
The “Vital Records Act of 1981,” referred to in paragraph (b)(4), is D.C. Law 4-34.
An attempt to invalidate a final decree of adoption by reason of a jurisdictional or procedural defect may not be received by any court of the District, unless regularly filed with the court within one year following the date the final decree became effective.
From and after the filing of the petition, records and papers in adoption proceedings shall be sealed. They may not be inspected by any person, including the parties to the proceeding, except upon order of the court, and only then when the court is satisfied that the welfare of the child will thereby be promoted or protected. Such records and papers shall, upon written application to the court, be unsealed and provided to the Child Fatality Review Committee or the Violence Fatality Review Committee for inspection if the adoptee is deceased and inspection of the records and papers is necessary for the discharge of the relevant Committee's official duties. The clerk of the court shall keep a separate docket for adoption proceedings.
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3052(a) of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-458, Oct. 3, 2018, 65 DCR 11212).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3052(a) of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-434, July 30, 2018, 65 DCR 8200).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 20(a) of Child Fatality Review Committee Establishment Emergency Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-40, April 25, 2001, 48 DCR 5917).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 20(a) of Child Fatality Review Committee Establishment Legislative Review Emergency Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-82, July 9, 2001, 48 DCR 6355).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 20(a) of Child Fatality Review Committee Establishment Temporary Act of 2001 (D.C. Law 14-20, September 6, 2001, law notification 48 DCR 9090).
(a) A final decree of adoption establishes the relationship of natural parent and natural child between adopter and adoptee for all purposes, including mutual rights of inheritance and succession as if adoptee were born to adopter. The adoptee takes from, through, and as a representative of his adoptive parent or parents in the same manner as a child by birth, and upon the death of an adoptee intestate, his property shall pass and be distributed in the same manner as if the adoptee had been born to the adopting parent or parents in lawful wedlock. All rights and duties including those of inheritance and succession between the adoptee, his natural parents, their issue, collateral relatives, and so forth, are cut off, except that when one of the natural parents is the spouse of the adopter, the rights and relations as between adoptee, that natural parent, and his parents and collateral relatives, including mutual rights of inheritance and succession, are in no wise altered.
(b) While it is in force, an interlocutory decree of adoption has the same legal effect as a final decree of adoption. Upon the revocation of an interlocutory decree of adoption, the status of the adoptee, the natural parents of the adoptee, and the petitioners are as though the interlocutory decree were null and void ab initio.
(c) The family name of the adoptee shall be changed to that of the adopter unless the decree otherwise provides, and the given name of the adoptee may be fixed or changed at the same time.
In the District, “child” or its equivalent in a deed, grant, will, or other written instrument includes an adopted person, unless the contrary plainly appears by the terms thereof, whether the instrument was executed before or after the entry of the interlocutory decree of adoption, if any, or before or after the final decree of adoption became effective.
(a) Upon the issuance of a final decree of adoption, an adoption form shall be sent to the Registrar pursuant to [Chapter 2A of Title 7]. Unless otherwise requested in the petition by the adopters, the Registrar shall cause to be made a new record of the birth in the new name with the names of the adopters and shall then cause the original birth certificate and the order of the Court to be sealed and filed. The sealed package may be opened only by order of the Court or by the Registrar to properly administer [Chapter 2A of Title 7].
(b) If the adoption occurred outside the District either before or after August 25, 1937, a new certificate of birth shall be made pursuant to [§ 7-231.21]. The Registrar shall seal the original birth certificate. The sealed original birth certificate may be opened only by order of a court of competent jurisdiction or by the Registrar to properly administer [[Chapter 2A of Title 7]].
(c) If the birth of the adoptee occurred outside the District the clerk of the court shall, upon petition by the adopter, furnish him with a certified copy of the final decree of adoption.
(c-1) If the birth of the adoptee occurred outside of the United States, a new certificate of birth shall be made pursuant to [§ 7-231.21].
(d) When an adoption in the District occurred prior to August 25, 1937, the court shall, upon presentation of a motion by a party to the proceedings, order the clerk of the court to seal the records in the proceeding. Upon presentation of a certified copy of the order the Mayor shall cause to be made a new record of the birth in the new name and with the names of the adopters and shall then cause to be sealed and filed the original birth certificate with the order of the court. The sealed package may be opened only by order of the court.
This section is referenced in § 7-210.
New birth certificates, see § 7-210.
The “Vital Records Act of 1981,” referred to throughout subsections (a), (b), and (c-1), is D.C. Law 4-34. Section 11 of the Act is codified at § 7-210.
The provisions of this chapter have no effect prior to June 8, 1954, except to the extent that they specifically so provide. They do not affect in any way the rights and relations obtained by any decree of adoption entered prior to June 8, 1954.
(B) Validity of the foreign adoption has been verified by the granting of an IR-3 immigrant visa, or a successor immigrant visa, for the child by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
(2) The foreign adoption that meets the requirement of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be considered final under the laws of the District of Columbia and, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no further petition for an adoption decree shall be required in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
(C) Presentation of evidence that the child was granted an IR-3 immigrant visa, or a successor immigrant visa, by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
(b)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, an adoptive parent may elect to file a petition for a District adoption decree with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
(B) An adoption decree to the petitioner.
(3) A petition for a District adoption decree pursuant to this subsection may be combined with a petition for a name change.
(4) A petition for an adoption decree issued pursuant to this subsection shall be placed on an expedited calendar to ensure minimal expense of time and money to the petitioning party in attaining a adoption decree.

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§ 16
 § 16
 § 11
 § 4
 § 16
 § 201
 § 4
 § 16
 § 16
 § 23
 § 4
 § 16
 § 2
 § 2
 § 16
 § 32
 § 16
 § 3
 § 3
 § 3
 § 3
 § 3
 § 3
 § 4
 § 3052
 § 3052
 § 20
 § 20
 § 20
 § 7
 § 7
 § 7