RSA 170-B:25 · Effect of Petition and Decree of Adoption; Inheritance

170-B:25 Effect of Petition and Decree of Adoption; Inheritance. –

Copy link

I.

Upon the issuance of the final decree of adoption, the adoptee shall be considered the child of the adopting parent or parents, entitled to the same rights and privileges and subject to the same duties and obligations as if such adoptee had been born of the adopting parent or parents.

Copy link

II.

Until the issuance of the final decree of adoption, the adoptee shall be considered the child of such adoptee's birth parent or parents only with respect to inheritance rights or privileges; but, when a child is adopted by an individual who intends to share parenting responsibilities with one of the adoptee's parents, the child's relationship to such parent shall in no way be altered by reason of the adoption.

Copy link

III.

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon the issuance of a final decree of adoption in which only one spouse is petitioner and the adoptee is over the age of 18, the adopted child shall be the child of the adopting spouse. Such child's relationship to the assenting parent shall not be altered if the child and the parent so agree. Such child shall no longer be deemed to be the child of such child's other birth or legal parent.

Copy link

IV.

Until the issuance of a final decree of adoption, all reciprocal rights of inheritance between the adoptee and the adoptee's birth parents and their respective collateral or lineal relatives shall continue to exist.

Copy link

V.

Upon the issuance of a final decree of adoption, all reciprocal rights of inheritance between the adoptee and the adoptive parents and their respective collateral or lineal relatives shall contemporaneously begin.

Copy link

VI.

Nothing contained in this section shall limit in any way the right of any person to provide for the disposition of his or her property by will. The rights of a child adopted after the making of a will by the adoptive parent or parents shall be the same as the rights of an after-born child. When the adoptive parent is an individual who intends to share parenting responsibilities with one of the adoptee's parents, nothing contained in this section shall affect the rights of inheritance between the child and such child's legal parent or their collateral or lineal relatives. In the absence of specific language to the contrary, an adoptee shall be considered the same as a birth child, issue or heir of the body. Source. 2004, 255:1. 2006, 200:10, 11, eff. July 30, 2006. 2020, 26:6, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.

Copy link