Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Adoption

Adopted children are the children of the person/people who adopted them, not their biological parents. (Unless adopted by the spouse of a biological parent—that doesn't stop a child from inheriting from his biological parent too. UPC § 2-119(b)(2).) UPC § 2-118, UPC § 2-119, VA Code § 64.2-102.

Typically no statutory distinction is made between child and adult adoptions, but wills commonly have language excluding adult adoptees.

  • Also, UPC § 3-705 excludes adult adoptees from someone other than the adoptive parent unless the adoptive parent actually "functioned as a parent of the adoptee" before he turned 18.
    • Or it used to exclude them entirely (from class gifts?) unless the adoptee lived with the adoptive parent as a minor?
Equitable Adoption

Most states recognize equitable adoption to imply an adoption when people raise a child as their own.