Step-parent adoption after the death of a parent: Article 8 and family relationships

Jennifer Moore, Legal Director, Rayden Solicitors

Re H (Step-Parent Adoption: Human Rights) [2023] EWHC 3186 (Fam) is a ground-breaking case where the Human Rights Act 1998 was used to re-write the law on step-parent adoption, allowing an order to be made where the child’s biological parent had died prior to the application being made. In this article, the authors set out the legal problem and the human rights approach that they used to argue the applicant’s case, before summarising the court’s solution and adding their own analysis of the significance of the decision.

The full article has published in the June issue of Family Law. Find out more or request a free 1-week trial of Family Law journal. Please quote: 100482