Adoption in special cases: what surname does the adoptee take?

What you need to know about the surnames of children who are adopted using the special procedure established by law.

Luca, a lively child with curious eyes, prepares for his first day at school. His excitement is palpable, but beneath the surface, there’s a question that kept him up the night before: What last name will appear on his class roster? Luca was recently adopted by Marco, a single person who chose to undertake the adoption journey with love and dedication. This situation brings to light a complex and multifaceted topic in family law: in case of adoption in particular cases, what surname does the adoptee take?

? In this article we will explore the rules and jurisprudential rulings and practices that regulate this form of adoption, with particular reference to the relationship of the adoptee with the family of origin and with that of the adoptee, as well as the surname that the law establishes must have

What is adoption in particular cases?.

The institute ofadoption in particular casesalso known as adoption specialfinds its foundation and regulatory discipline in theart. 44 and following of the law n.184/1983, dedicated to provisions relating to adoption. It is used in cases where so-called adoption is not possible full or legitimizingreserved exclusively for couples married and concerning minors of whom it has been declared state Of abandonment.

Special adoption is foreseen for well-defined and limited situations, outlined by the legislation as follows:

• minors who find themselves without one or both parents and for whom there are relatives up to the sixth degree, or people linked to the minor by a significant and lasting emotional bond, willing to take care of them;
• spouse’s child, or when a person intends to adopt their partner’s child;
• orphan minors who are disabled and therefore require a family environment suited to their specific needs;
• proven impossibility of placing the minor in a pre-adoptive foster care context. This circumstance may occur, for example, if it is not possible to declare the minor abandoned.

This special adoption mechanism represents a legislative solution aimed at encouraging the inclusion of the minor in a stable and protective family context even in the absence of blood ties, extending the possibility of adoption to the partner’s child within civilly united couples you hate cohabitants unmarried. The law thus intends to offer a flexible and inclusive legal response to different family configurations, promoting the well-being and protection of minors in particularly delicate or complex situations.

What are the effects of adoption in particular cases?

L’adoption in particular casesunlike adoption legitimizinginvolves a series of consequences specific for both the adopter and the adopted minorwith effects starting from the date on which the sentence is issued, without any retroactive application.

Regarding the adoptee:

• he obtains the status of adopted child;
• maintains rights and obligations towards his biological family, even if the natural parents lose parental responsibility;
• The surname of the adopter, as we will see better later, is added before that of the adoptee.
• becomes a relative of the other members of the adopter’s family;
• obtains the inheritance rights due to a legitimate child;
• is obliged to provide financial support to the adopter, as required by law (art. 433 cod. civil)…

For the adopter:

• does not acquire inheritance rights over the adopted child, which remain attributed to the minor’s family of origin. The reason for the rule is to avoid adoption being used as a tool to take possession of the adopted person’s assets in the event of the latter’s death (think of the case of a child belonging to a rich family in poor health). ;
• is required to provide for the maintenance and education of the adopted child, having parental responsibility which includes the management of the minor’s assets, without however enjoying the legal usufruct of such assets. He is also obliged to invest any surplus in a productive way, always to prevent the adoption from being used as a pretext to take possession of the adoptee’s assets;
• must ensure the support of the adopted person in accordance with the provisions regarding children.

This regulatory structure aims to balance the protection of the interests and assets of the adoptee with the creation of a stable family bond between adopter and adoptee, while ensuring the maintenance of a connection with the child’s family of origin.

Legitimizing and special adoption: what are the differences?

The main distinction between thespecial adoption and adoption fullor legitimizinglies in the persistence of link between adopted minor and his biological family in special adoption. In this type of adoption, although the adoptive parents assume full responsibility for the growth and care of the child, a connection is maintained between the child and his or her family of origin.

On the contrary, with full adoption, the relationship between the minor and his biological family is completely severed. In this circumstance, as a result of the law, the child is integrated into the family for all intents and purposes adoptivewithout maintaining any legal link with the family of origin.

As regards the inclusion in the adopter’s family in the case of special adoption, before the pronouncement of the Constitutional Court with the sentence no. 79/2022 there was a significant difference between special adoption and full adoption relating to the establishment of kinship ties between the adopted child and the adoptive parent’s relatives. In the context of special adoption, the kinship bond was established solely between the latter and the minor, without extending to the latter’s family members, such as brothers, grandparents, uncles and cousins.

However, the decision of Consult marked a turning point, recognizing the provision of theart. 55 from the law n.184/1983. This rule precluded the formation of a relationship Of relationship between the minor adopted in special adoption and the relatives of the adoptive parent.

The ruling of the Constitutional Court reflects a more inclusive and attentive orientation to the rights of minors, fitting into a jurisprudential and legislative trend which, in recent years, has aimed to guarantee the equality Of treatment and the same legal protection for all children. The Court underlined the importance of the child’s right to be integrated into the parental network of his adoptive parents, stating that this right exists regardless of the adoption method chosen. In this way, children adopted through special adoption have been granted the right to establish full and legally recognized family ties with the entire family of the adoptive parent.

In the case of special adoption, what surname does the adoptee take?

In the’ adoption in particular cases what surname does the adoptee take?? The differences between adoption legitimizing And specialwhich we have illustrated, are also reflected in aspects such as the transmission of the surname.

In case of adoption fullthe surname of the adoptive parents completely replaces the child’s original one, in line with the rules that establish the termination of all ties with the family of origin.

Instead, in the context of special adoption, the surname of adoptive parent it is placed alongside and placed before the original one of the minor, thus maintaining a trace of his bond with the biological family also at the level of nominal identity. This distinction underlines the different normative and social approach towards the relationship between the minor and the families, biological and adoptive, in the two types of adoption.