Adoption

Finally, a common activity in the area of family law is advice in connection with the requirements and legal consequences of adoptions and support in the process, both in domestic and in international adoption processes. The main focus here lies on the establishment of adoption contracts and declarations of consent as well as the corresponding application to the competent court for approval of the adoption. In the case of international adoptions, for example if the adopted child has a nationality other than Austrian, it must also be taken into account that foreign family law provisions may also apply, e.g. especially when obtaining the consent of the natural parents. Aspects of this kind should be taken into account in the run-up to the adoption and appropriate research should be carried out on foreign family law. If the implementation of an international adoption is also connected with the adopted child moving to another country, the existing international provisions and agreements, specifically the provisions of the Hague Adoption Convention (HAÜ), will have to be taken into account. Compliance with the Convention will be required over the course of the procedure which is ultimately a prerequisite for the acceptance of the adoption in Austria.

In an international context, however, it may also be necessary to ask questions about the recognition of adoptions in Austria that have already been approved abroad by the authorities or courts responsible there.

In any case, our law firm has many years of experience in all matters relating to adoptions and international adoptions and would be happy to give you advise on matters in this field.