Effects of adoption
Transfer of parental authority – except in cases where the biological parent is the spouse of the adopter, the parental authority of the biological parents shall terminate and the same shall be vested in the adopters.
Legitimacy – the adoptee shall be considered the legitimate son/daughter of the adopter(s) for all intents and purposes and as such is entitled to all the rights and obligations provided by law to legitimate sons/daughters born to them without discrimination of any kind.
Successional rights
- In legal and intestate succession, the adopter(s) and the adoptee shall have reciprocal rights of succession without distinction from legitimate filiation;
- However, if the adoptee and his/her biological parent(s) had left a will, the law on testamentary succession shall govern;
- The adoptee remains an intestate heir of his/her biological parent.
Issuance of new certificate and first name and surname of adoptee
- The adoption decree shall state the name by which the child is to be known. An amended certificate of birth shall be issued by the Civil Registry attesting to the fact that the adoptee is the child of the adopter(s) by being registered with his/her surname;
- The original certificate of birth shall be stamped “cancelled” with the annotation of the issuance of an amended birth certificate in its place and shall be sealed in the civil registry records. The new birth certificate to be issued to the adoptee shall not bear any notation that it is an amended issue;
- All records, books, and papers relating to the adoption cases in the files of the court, the DSWD, or any other agency or institution participating in the adoption proceedings shall be kept strictly confidential and the court may order its release under the following conditions only: (1) the disclosure of the information to a third person is necessary for purposes connected with or arising out of the adoption; (2) the disclosure will be for the best interest of the adoptee; and (3) the court may restrict the purposes for which it may be used.
