Adoption overview

From Adoption Information

Adoption is a legal process in which parental rights to a child (whose biological parents' parental rights have been severed) are bestowed on adopting parents, creating a parent-child relationship where one did not previously exist. The adopted child has all the same legal rights and responsibilities as a biological child, including rights of inheritance.

Although most adoptions are of minor children, legal provisions for the adoption of an adult exist in most states, and as with the adoption of a minor, the adopted adult has all the same rights as a biological child, including rights of inheritance.

The most common form of adoption in the U.S. and Canada is stepparent adoption.