Bundesportal | Adult adoption; application

More Information

Publisher

Bavaria

Last update or date of publication

March 2, 2026

The adoption of an adult as a child (adoption) is pronounced by the family court at the request of the adopter and the adoptee.

An adult can be adopted as a child if the adoption is morally justified. This can be assumed in particular if a parent-child relationship has already been established between the adopter and the adoptee.

The adoption of an adult is generally designed as an adoption with weak effects, i.e. the relationship of the adoptee to his or her biological family is not completely severed. Under certain conditions, however, it can also be pronounced as a full adoption, which leads to almost complete integration into the adopter's family.

The application to adopt an adult and the necessary consents must be declared before the family court. The local court - family court - in whose district the adopter or one of the adopters has their habitual residence is usually responsible.

written, notarised application by the accepting party and the person to be accepted
written, notarized consent forms from the following individuals:
- Adopters (adoptive parents)
- Adopted
- Spouse of the adopting person
- Spouse of the adopted person

Label

Preconditions

You may adopt a person of legal age as a child if the adoption is morally justified.

This is the case if a parent-child relationship has already been established.
This can be assumed, for example, if
- the person to be adopted has already lived in your family as a minor child and
- legal reasons prevented the adoption.
  Example: The biological parents refused to consent to the adoption while the adoptee was a minor.

The application of the adopter and the adoptee must be notarized.

The notarized declarations of consent of the following persons are also required:

Adopters (adoptive parents)
Adopted person
Spouse of the adopter(s)
Spouse of the adoptee

Costs for notarization
Court costs

Basis for legal action

§§ 1741 bis 1772 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) Annahme als Kind

Legal Remedies

Adoption decision itself: generally not contestable, only possible annulment proceedings, objection to hearing or constitutional complaint
Rejection of the adoption and decisions accompanying the adoption: appeal if necessary

Procedure

You must submit the required documents to the family court as notarized declarations.

You can also instruct a notary to submit the documents.
If you have children of your own, the court will weigh up whether their overriding interests conflict with the adoption.
This could be the case if the following claims would be unreasonably diminished:
- maintenance claims
- inheritance claims
Even if the person to be adopted has children themselves, the court will check whether their overriding interests conflict with the adoption. The children of both parties therefore have a right to be heard.
If the requirements for the adoption of an adult are met, the court will issue an order for the adoption of the adult.

Deadlines

none

Processing time

Due to the specified procedure, usually at least 3 months; however, this depends on the individual case.

Label