Member Article

Blended families spark rise in adoption cases

The number of step-parents adopting their partner’s children is on the rise with more than 2.5 million children in the UK estimated to be living in step-families, according to a leading family lawyer.

Fay Rothery says as remarriage and blended families become more common, cases where couples are looking to legally adopt their step-children are becoming more common.

Mrs Rothery, a Partner in the award-winning family department of West Midlands’ firm FBC Manby Bowdler, says step-children are often a relevant factor in the way that clients organise their finances during their relationship and an important consideration in the financial settlement on relationship breakdown.

“There are more than 2.5 million youngsters now living in blended families. In some cases, the concern is to ensure that the children of previous relationships are treated in the same way as children of the relationship. I have seen a growing number of enquiries regarding step-parent adoption, which has probably been increased by the changes brought about by the Adoption and Children Act 2002.

“The motivation for such applications appears to be to formalise the step-parents role where they have assumed the role of parent, and in part to ensure that the child would be treated the same financially as a natural child.”

Mrs Rothery said the more common enquiries were traditionally from clients concerned that their assets or estate should be preserved for their own children.

“This occurs particularly when the parties are bringing unequal contributions to the relationship where one party has a substantially larger asset base than the other. This can lead to them seeking advice on pre-nuptial/cohabitation agreements to ensure their assets would revert to them, and their estate on the breakdown of the relationship.”

Around 40 per cent of all weddings in the UK are second or subsequent marriage and the recent national Family Finances report showed that nearly a third of all couples bringing up children have a child living with them from an earlier relationship in their family.

Mrs Rothery added: “These considerations, of ensuring succession of their assets to their own children, applies more often than not in cases where there are substantial assets. The pertinent consideration in more modest cases, usually concerns the maintenance of children and providing for their needs in the here and now.

“It is often a challenging exercise for the court to balance the needs of the children of the marriage with the parties’ responsibilities in new relationships. The Child Support Agency still retains jurisdiction to assess child maintenance in all but a few exceptions.”

Earlier this year, one of Britain’s most senior judges said that the traditional family model had been replaced thanks in part to widespread divorce. Lord Wilson of Culworth, a family justice in the Supreme Court, said a the nuclear family had been replaced by blended families.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by FBC Manby Bowdler .