Family Law

Family Law is the legal practice focuses on everything related to the family, as the adoption, the marriage, divorce or child custody.

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## Adoption for Foreigners

If a foreigner wants to adopt a child who has the Russian nationality, he/she has to follow the rules of her country.

If a foreigner wants to adopt a Russian child on the Russian territory, they should be complied with the requirements of articles of the Russian Family law, centred on adopting Russian children. This code takes into consideration the international treaty of the Russian federation.

## Legalities for Adoption

Children left without parental care shall be subject to placing for upbringing into a family (for adoption, under guardianship (trusteeship) or into a foster family), and in the absence of such an opportunity, into any kind of institution for orphans or for children left without parental care (into educational establishments, including children's homes of the family type, medical centres, institutions for the social protection of the population and into other similar institutions). Other forms of accommodation of children, left without parental care, may be stipulated by the laws of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

When accommodating the child, account shall be taken of his ethnical origin, affiliation to a certian religion and culture, his native tongue and the possibility of ensuring succession in his upbringing and education.

The adoption shall be admitted with respect to underaged children and only in their interest, with the observance of the requirements mentioned earlier, and also with regard to the possibilities of the provision to children of adequate physical, psychic, spiritual and moral development.

The adoption of brothers and sisters by different persons shall not be admitted, with the exception of the cases when the adoption is effected in the children's interest.

## Adoption for Foreigners

The adoption of children by foreign citizens or by stateless persons shall be admitted only in cases when it is impossible to give these children for upbringing into the families of citizens of the Russian Federation, who permanently reside on the territory of the Russian Federation, or for adoption to the children's relatives, regardless of the citizenship or the place of residence of these relatives.

The children may be given for adoption to citizens of the Russian Federation who permanently reside outside of the territory of the Russian Federation, or to foreign citizens or to stateless persons who are not the children's relatives, after the expiry of six months from the date of the receipt of the information about such children by the federal bank of the data about children who have remained without parental care in conformity with Item 3, Article 122 of the present Code

## Procedure for Adoption

The adoption shall be effected by the court upon the application of the persons (a person), wishing to adopt the child. The cases on instituting the adoption of the child shall be considered by the court by conducting special proceedings, according to the rules, stipulated by the civil procedural legislation. The cases on the establishment of the adoption of children shall be considered by a court with the obligatory participation of the adopters themselves, the bodies of trusteeship and guardianship, and also the procurator.

For the establishment of the adoption of a child a conclusion of the body of trusteeship and guardianship on the soundness of the adoption and on its conformity to the interests of the child shall be necessary being adopted, with an indication of the information about the fact of personal contracts of the adopters (or adopter) with the child being adopted.

## Sources

THE FAMILY CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION NO. 223-FZ OF DECEMBER 29, 1995, Article 124,126,127,128