Part 2Civil partnership: England and Wales
Chapter 5Children
79Adoption
1
Amend the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (c. 38) as follows.
2
In section 21 (placement orders), in subsection (4)(c), after “child marries” insert “
, forms a civil partnership
”
.
3
In section 47 (conditions for making adoption orders), after subsection (8) insert—
8A
An adoption order may not be made in relation to a person who is or has been a civil partner.
4
In section 51 (adoption by one person), in subsection (1), after “is not married” insert “
or a civil partner
”
.
5
After section 51(3) insert—
3A
An adoption order may be made on the application of one person who has attained the age of 21 years and is a civil partner if the court is satisfied that—
a
the person’s civil partner cannot be found,
b
the civil partners have separated and are living apart, and the separation is likely to be permanent, or
c
the person’s civil partner is by reason of ill-health, whether physical or mental, incapable of making an application for an adoption order.
6
In section 64 (other provision to be made by regulations), in subsection (5) for “or marriage” substitute “
, marriage or civil partnership
”
.
7
In section 74(1) (enactments for whose purposes section 67 does not apply), for paragraph (a) substitute—
a
section 1 of and Schedule 1 to the Marriage Act 1949 or Schedule 1 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (prohibited degrees of kindred and affinity),
8
In section 79 (connections between the register and birth records), in subsection (7)—
a
in paragraph (b), after “intends to be married” insert “
or form a civil partnership
”
, and
b
for “the person whom the applicant intends to marry” substitute “
the intended spouse or civil partner
”
.
9
In section 81 (Adoption Contact Register: supplementary), in subsection (2) for “or marriage” substitute “
, marriage or civil partnership
”
.
10
In section 98 (pre-commencement adoptions: information), in subsection (7), in the definition of “relative” for “or marriage” substitute “
, marriage or civil partnership
”
.
11
In section 144 (interpretation), in the definition of “relative” in subsection (1), after “by marriage” insert “
or civil partnership
”
.
12
In section 144(4) (meaning of “couple”), after paragraph (a) insert—
aa
two people who are civil partners of each other, or