So was i adopted?

"""Where a widow or an unmarried woman adopts a child, any husband whom she marries subsequently shall be deemed to be the step father of the adoptive child."""............that is a india adoption law,,,,,,,,my uncle married my mom after my dad passed away in 1992,,did not file any adoption paper,,,but according to law above,,does that mean i was automatically adopted my common law...............

LaurieDB

No, he is not your adoptive father. He is your step father, just like I am step mother to my husband's children from his first marriage. They are his biological children. It would be no different, however, if they were his adopted children. In either case, I am simply their step mother, not their adoptive mother.

A step parent is not a legal parent in the same way a biological or adoptive parent is a legal parent. If my husband and I were to divorce, I would no longer be their step mother under the law. If I adopted them, however, I would be their legal mother, even if my husband and I divorced.

Your uncle is a step parent to you, not a legal parent. He doesn't have parental rights. If your mother were to divorce him, he would no longer carry the legal title of "step parent."

Hannah B

There is no adoption in your situation. Your mother is your birth mother and your uncle is your uncle and step-father. If he wanted to adopt you he would be your adoptive father.

To me the law sounds like it is saying for example:
If both your parents had died and a stranger, lets call her Maya, had adopted you and then she had married Bob then Bob would be your stepfather and NOT your adoptive father unless he went through the official adoption proceeding to adopt you like Maya had.

It sounds like the purpose of the law is to protect adoptive children by not making any person their single adoptive parent marries their father unless they are assessed to be suitable to adopt.

sizesmith

The first person who answered this is correct, just one addition: Even though you are a step-child, there is probably inheritance laws that protect your interests, and I'm not sure about India law, but in many states in the USA, you could still be adopted by your stepfather, making it a legal adoption, complete with heirship rights, and the right to help him in the case of being in a nursing home, incompetent, etc, although I'd guess you probably have those rights.

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