Adoption Solicitors

Adopting a child is a sensitive and often exciting time, which our adoption solicitors can help to guide you through.

Whether you need initial advice at the outset or you have reached a complex stage, our approachable expert adoption solicitors are here to help and support you at every step of the adoption process. We won’t baffle you with legal jargon – we simply provide expert practical advice and clear information to help you make the decision that is right for you.

We’re able to offer the first 30 minutes of advice free in the majority of cases and will discuss this before your first appointment with us. Get in touch today on 0345 450 5558 or enquiries@stephens-scown.co.uk

Adoption legal advice

We provide advice to couples and individuals in numerous different areas relating to adoption including:

• Adoptions taking place within the UK;
• Adopting stepchildren or children who live with you;
• Adoption following assisted reproduction (including surrogacy and donor conception where the criteria for a Parental Order is not met);
• International adoption – including adopting children from overseas and dealing with the recognition of Adoption Orders made in other countries. We have specialist expertise and close ties with professionals abroad, along with the ability to draw on the invaluable experience of our in-house Immigration team to provide you with a complete service.

Adoption laws in the UK

Adoption is a legal process which results in a child becoming the legal child of an individual or couple, with the legal ties to the child’s birth parents potentially becoming permanently severed. The adoptive parents assume full legal and parental responsibility for the child they have adopted.

There may be several reasons why you wish to adopt a child and the advice you are given and the process to be followed will differ depending on your circumstances. It may be that you are adopting through an agency, or an agency may not be involved, for example in the case of adopting a stepchild.

When the Court is considering an application for the adoption of a child, it’s main concern will be to ensure that a child’s welfare is safeguarded and promoted throughout their life, in accordance with the Adoption and Children Act 2002.

If you are adopting a child from overseas, the legal pathway can be complex. It is recommended to seek legal advice at the earliest opportunity. Family Law Partner Sarah Bell and Senior Associate Sarah Hindle discuss considerations when looking to adopt/enter into a surrogacy agreement in this video.

How our specialist team can help

We understand that issues relating to adoption need to be handled carefully and sensitively.

Our specialist team of adoption solicitors have wide-ranging expertise in adoption law, both in respect of domestic adoptions (within the UK) and internationally. Several of our team are accredited Resolution Specialists in matters which relate to children – with Sarah Bell also regional Chair of Resolution Cornwall and Lizzie Smith appointed as Chair of Resolution Somerset. Mark Smith, Bill Wilkins, Sarah Hindle and Peter Marshall are members of the Law Society’s Children’s Panel.

The quality of our advice in family law has helped us to achieve top ranking from Chambers and The Legal 500, the two leading independent legal guides, for over 20 years. They rank us the best family law team in Devon and Cornwall, but we also help people across the UK and internationally.