You are legally residing in Luxembourg and would like to:

• welcome a child you haven’t met yet, particularly in the context of an international adoption; or
• formalise the legal status of a child who is already living with you (for example, your partner’s child or a child you have taken into your care) through full or simple adoption.

Full adoption establishes a new legal parent-child relationship for the child, which completely replaces the original parent-child relationship. Legally, the child becomes the adoptive parent’s child, as if they had been born to them.

Simple adoption creates a new legal parent-child relationship whilst maintaining the child’s original parent-child relationship and certain rights and obligations between the child and their birth family.

An adoption application may be submitted by:

• Two spouses who are not legally separated; or
• a single person who meets the age and capacity requirements laid down by Luxembourg law.

As a general rule, the adopter must be significantly older than the adoptee, and the child must be at least 3 months old and must not have reached a certain age at the time of the application. There are specific considerations if the child has already been taken into care before reaching this age or if they are already the subject of a simple adoption.

Depending on the circumstances, several permissions may be required:

• that of the adopter’s spouse, if applicable;
• that of the biological parents or the family council, if the child is a minor;
• that of the adoptee’s spouse, if they are married;
• that of the adoptee themselves, provided they have reached the age specified by the law.

The judge checks that all the legal requirements have been met and that the adoption is in the child’s best interests.

After the preparatory phase, your adoption application will be assessed by the relevant authority, which will take into consideration, in particular:

• your ability to care for a child; and
• the consistency and stability of your adoption plan.

If the assessment is favourable and a child is proposed to you in accordance with the relevant international conventions, an application for adoption must then be submitted to the district court through a lawyer.

The case is referred to the public prosecutor's office, who will submit their findings, and the case is then considered by the court in chambers before a judgment is handed down.

Once the adoption has been finalised, the judgment is entered in the civil status registers of the adoptee’s place of birth or, failing that, in those of the City of Luxembourg, and a note to this effect is made in the margin of the relevant civil registry documents.

Adoption has significant implications for parentage, surname, inheritance rights and parental authority, depending on whether it is a full adoption or a simple adoption:

• in the case of full adoption, the child is legally treated as if they were born within the adoptive parents’ marriage;
• in a simple adoption, the child becomes a member of their new family whilst retaining certain rights and ties to their family of origin.

Once the adoption has been finalised and the judgment has been recorded, you must complete the usual administrative procedures:

• register the adoption with your commune;
• update your details with social security bodies and family allowance funds;
• contact, where necessary, the relevant departments to find out about the procedures for adoption-related benefits and leave, in particular regarding applications for:
  • adoption leave;
  • parental leave.