Full adoption
What is full adoption?
- Full adoption refers to deeming an adopted child to be a child born during the spouses’ marriage for the child’s welfare, recognizing the child as a full biological child under the law (Article 908-3(1) of the Civil Act).
- Once fully adopted, family relations before the adoption (relationship with the birth father, etc.) are terminated at the time the full adoption is finalized, and a new legal relationship as a birth child is formed with the adoptive parents (Article 908-3(2) of the Civil Act). Therefore, family relations and inheritance arise between the adoptive parents, and the family name and family register may also be changed to those of the adoptive father.
Requirements for full adoption
- The following requirements must all be met, and a petition for full adoption must be made to the family court for a full adoption [Article 908-2(1) of the Civil Act; Article 2(1)2(a)(xii) of the Family Litigation Act].
1. The adoption must be done jointly by spouses who have been married for at least 3 years; provided that the foregoing does not apply where one of the spouses married for at least 1 year is fully adopting the other spouse’s biological child;
2. The child to be fully adopted is a minor;
3. The birth parent of the child to be fully adopted consents to the adoption (unless the parent has received a declaration of the loss of parental authority, the parent’s whereabouts are unknown, or cannot consent for other cause);
4. If the child to be fully adopted is at least 13 years old, the child accepts the adoption with the consent of a legal representative; and
5. If the child to be fully adopted is under 13 years of age, the legal representative accepts the adoption in the child’s stead.
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Useful Legal Information 3
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<Whose consent do I need?> Q. I divorced my husband 3 years ago, and I am raising our child. I am getting ready to remarry, and my prospective husband wants to fully adopt my child. I have parental authority and my ex-husband is deceased. Whose consent do I need to get? A. Full adoption requires the consent of the birth parent of the child to be fully adopted. However, when the former husband was deceased while the other party was raising the child after divorce and the husband the mother remarried wishes for full adoption, the mother’s consent is enough (Article 908-2(1)3 of the Civil Act).
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Competent court
- Permission for full adoption can be sought at the family court of the domicile of the child to be fully adopted (Article 44(1)4 of the Family Litigation Act).
Standard for permitting full adoption
- Before making an adjudication on full adoption, the family court must hear comments from ① the person to be fully adopted if such person is at least 13 years of age; ② the person seeking the adoption; ③ the birth parent of the person to be fully adopted; ④ the guardian of the person to be fully adopted; ⑤ a person other than a parent who exercises parental authority over the person; and ⑥ the guardian of the parent of the person to be fully adopted (Article 62-3(1) of the Family Litigation Rule).
- However, when no comment can be heard because the birth parent of the person to be fully adopted is deceased or for other cause, comments from the most closely-related lineal ascendant (if there are two or more at the same priority, the eldest) (Article 62-3(2) of the Family Litigation Rule).
- The family court additionally decides whether to permit full adoption for the welfare of the child to be fully adopted, in consideration of the child’s fostering situation, motivation for the full adoption, the adoptive parents’ competence in fostering, and other circumstances (Article 908-2(3) of the Civil Act).
Reporting a full adoption
- On obtaining a family court’s judgment granting permission for full adoption, the adoption must be reported within 1 month of the date the judgment is final to the si, gu, eup, or myeon office with jurisdiction over the place of registration or domicile by attaching the certified copy of the judgment and certificate of the final decision (Articles 58, 67, and 68 of the Act or Registration of Family Relations).
※ Details on full adoption are found in the
Adoption article of this website.