Sec. 45a-734. (Formerly Sec. 45-67). Adoption of adults. Inheritance.
Sec. 45a-734. (Formerly Sec. 45-67). Adoption of adults. Inheritance. (a) Any
person eighteen years of age or older may, by written agreement with another person
at least eighteen years of age but younger than himself or herself, unless the other person
is his or her wife, husband, brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the whole or half-blood, adopt
the other person as his or her child, provided the written agreement shall be approved by
the court of probate for the district in which the adopting parent resides or, if the adopting
parent is not an inhabitant of this state, for the district in which the adopted person
resides.
(b) The Court of Probate may, upon presentation of the agreement of adoption for
approval, cause public notice to be given of the time and place of hearing on the
agreement. If at the hearing the court finds that it will be for the welfare of the adopted
person and for the public interest that the agreement be approved, it may pass an order
of approval of it and cause the agreement and the order to be recorded. Thereupon the
adopted person shall become the legal child of the adopting person, and the adopting
person shall become the legal parent of the adopted person, and the provisions of section
45a-731 shall apply.
(c) A married person shall not adopt a person under the provisions of this section
unless both husband and wife join in the adoption agreement, except that the Court of
Probate may approve an adoption agreement by either of them upon finding that there
is sufficient reason why the other should not join in the agreement.
(d) When one of the biological parents of an adult has died and the surviving parent
remarries, the person with whom the remarriage is celebrated may become an adopting
parent without the biological parent's joining in the adoption except to consent in writing. Upon the approval of the court, the adopted person shall be in law the child of both.
(1949 Rev., S. 6871; 1961, P.A. 77; 1963, P.A. 460; P.A. 73-156, S. 16; P.A. 80-476, S. 154; P.A. 96-130, S. 20.)
History: 1961 act substituted "may" for "shall" in provision re court's power to cause public notice to be given of
hearing time and place; 1963 act rephrased provision requiring adoption by both husband and wife, adding exception; P.A.
73-156 applied provisions to persons "at least eighteen years of age" rather than to persons "of full age", specified that
adopted person has rights detailed in Secs. 45-64a and 45-69b, deleting reference to reciprocal rights and duties of natural
parent and child and detailed provisions re inheritance; P.A. 80-476 divided section into Subsecs., rephrased provisions
and deleted reference to Sec. 45-69b; Sec. 45-67 transferred to Sec. 45a-734 in 1991; P.A. 96-130 made technical changes,
including changing "natural" to "biological" and "solemnized" to "celebrated" in Subsec. (d).
Annotation to former section 45-67:
Written agreement may be supplemented by oral agreement as to property settlement. 96 C. 478.