Civil and Criminal Law and Justice · Chapter 4
Study notes aligned to the official NEB syllabus.
Adoption is a legal act. In it, a person takes another person's child and makes that child his or her own. The adopted child is called a धर्मपुत्र (adopted son) or धर्मपुत्री (adopted daughter). After a valid adoption, the law treats this child just like a natural child of the adopter. In Nepal, adoption is governed by the Muluki Civil Code 2074 (2017). This Code is the main civil law on adoption. The custom of keeping a धर्मपुत्र / धर्मपुत्री is very old in Nepali family law. The Code carries that old custom forward. It also reforms it and gives it clear rules.
The purpose of adoption is partly social and partly legal. It lets a childless person or couple raise a child as their own. It gives a parentless or needy child a family and a name. It also settles an important question: who will inherit the family property and continue the family line. Think of a simple example. A couple have no child of their own. Nearby, a young orphan is being raised by relatives who cannot support him. Adoption is the legal bridge here. It lets the couple take the child permanently as their own. It gives the child the security of a family and a share in its property.
Adoption changes a person's family and property relations forever. Because the change is so serious, the Code allows adoption only when certain conditions are met. It must also be done through a proper legal process. The main conditions are explained below.
Here is why the process matters. Suppose a couple simply start raising a relative's child. They call him their son, but they never complete the legal process. In law, this is not a recognised adoption. The child would not automatically gain a child's right to inherit. Note one thing about exact figures. Where I am not sure of an exact number, I describe the rule in words. I do not quote a section number I am unsure of.
Suppose a child has been validly adopted under the Muluki Civil Code 2074. From then on, the law treats that child almost exactly like a natural child of the adopter. The adopted child (धर्मपुत्र / धर्मपुत्री) gets the right to use the adopter's family name. The child also gets the right to be maintained, educated and brought up by the adopter.
The property rights are very important. The adopted child becomes a coparcener in the adopter's family. A coparcener is a family member who has a right in the joint family property by birth. So the adopted child gets the right to a share in partition (अंशबण्डा). The child also gets the right to inherit (अपुताली) the adopter's property. The child holds these rights on the same footing as a natural child. In return, the adopted child owes the normal duties of a child towards the adopting parents. These duties include respect, care, and support in their old age.
Here is an example. A couple validly adopt a ten year old boy. Years later, the adopting father dies. He leaves behind land and a house. The adopted son can claim his share of that property. He claims it exactly as a son born to the couple would. In the eyes of the law, he is their son.
There is another side to this change. Once the adoption takes effect, the legal tie with the child's original family is generally cut. The adopted child usually loses the right of inheritance or partition in the biological family. The reason is simple. The law does not allow a child to claim a full child's share in two families at the same time. So, in the example above, the adopted son usually cannot also claim a child's share from his birth parents. He has taken his place in the adopting family. In this way, a valid adoption moves the child from the natural family into the adopting family. It moves the child's rights and duties along with him. It gives the child one single, clear legal position.
Adoption is meant to be a lasting relationship. Even so, the Muluki Civil Code 2074 accepts that an adoption can sometimes be cancelled or revoked (बदर). The parties cannot do this just because they have changed their mind. Revocation is allowed only on recognised grounds. It is normally done through a court or the proper legal process.
An adoption can be challenged and set aside when the legal conditions were broken. For example, the rules on age, consent or eligibility may not have been met. An adoption can also be set aside when it was obtained by wrong means. These wrong means include fraud, coercion, or hiding important facts. Here is an example. A man already had a son of his own. He hid that fact and took a dharmaputra. His aim was to cut down his real son's inheritance. A key condition was not met, and important facts were hidden. So that adoption can be challenged and set aside.
The law also allows the relationship to be ended for serious misconduct. This can happen in two directions. It can happen when the adopted child gravely mistreats, assaults or abandons the adopting parents. It can also happen when the adopter seriously fails in the duties of a parent towards the child. Here is an example. An adopted son grows up. He then drives his aged adoptive parents out of the house and refuses them all support. This is a grave breach of a child's duty. It can be a ground to revoke the adoption.
When an adoption is validly revoked, the artificial parent-child relationship comes to an end. The rights of inheritance and partition (अंशबण्डा) that came from it also fall away. So the former adopted child usually loses the share he or she could otherwise have claimed in the adopting family. The exact grounds and procedure are set out in the Code. Where the precise provision is not certain, it is described here in words.