Yesterday, while I thinking of a beautiful topic to write about, my neighbor named Sally posed before me a question: Can an adult be adopted?
Quirking my eyes, I thought of the question as simple. But why can’t I easily answer her? Afraid to be embarrassed that she might think I have not studied my lessons, I readily run through my mind what were our lessons in law school on that topic was. Generally, we only thought of adopting minor children and seldom the adults…
Luckily, I was able to grope for the answer.
The answer is “YES, AN ADULT (18 years old or over) CAN BE ADOPTED. PROVIDED, THAT SAID ADULT, HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY CONSIDERED AND TREATED BY THE ADOPTERS AS THEIR OWN CHILD SINCE MINORITY”…. This is embodied under the provisions of Article 187 (1) of the Family Code and also in Section 8 (d) of Republic Act No. 8552, otherwise known as the Domestic Adoption Act.
The process of adopting an adult can be made by filing a Petition for Adoption before a Family Court or if none, in the Regional Trial Court where the prospective adoptive parents reside.
I then smiled at Sally, relieved that I was able to satisfy her question.
