Federal Council wants to selectively facilitate stepchild adoption
Published: Wednesday, Jun 26th 2024, 10:30
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The Federal Council wants to facilitate the adoption of stepchildren in certain family constellations. To this end, the requirement of a one-year foster relationship is to be dropped.
On Wednesday, the Federal Council opened the corresponding consultation on an amendment to the Civil Code (CC), as it announced. It had received the mandate to do so from Parliament.
Specifically, the requirement of a one-year foster relationship as a condition for adopting a stepchild should be waived if one biological parent is already living with the person wishing to adopt the child at birth. The Federal Council writes that this would take better account of social developments and the diverse family forms.
In addition, the suitability assessment in these cases should be simplified and the adoption procedure should be completed within six months if possible. However, the requirement that the couple must have lived together for at least three years before the stepchild adoption is to be retained.
Consequence of "marriage for all"
The changes to stepchild adoption are a consequence of "marriage for all" and put same-sex couples on an equal footing with heterosexual partnerships. It was a matter of safeguarding the interests of the child, said the then Minister of Justice Karin Keller-Sutter in parliament.
The Legal Affairs Committee of the National Council (RK-N) stated in its motion that if the current conditions were to remain in place, the child would be legally inadequately protected for two years if the foster relationship and proceedings are taken into account. This would put them at a disadvantage compared to stepchildren of heterosexual couples and could have dramatic consequences in the event of the death of a parent.
The consultation on the preliminary draft amendment to the Swiss Civil Code will run until October 17. At the same time, work is underway on a comprehensive revision of the law of descent.
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