Question 39099 — family
France · National Assembly
Mrs. Camille Galliard-Minier draws the attention of the Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, to the question relating to the conversion of simple adoptions into full adoptions when the parents' divorce has been pronounced. In this regard, article 345, paragraph 2 of the civil code provides that a child who has been the subject of a simple adoption before the age of fifteen can be fully adopted until the age of twenty, and article 370-5 specifies that in this regard, case it is a conversion from simple to plenary adoption. Article 346 states that joint adoption can only be carried out by a married couple. In light of these elements, one situation remains problematic: that of the parents' divorce after the simple adoption has been granted. In this, the question arises as to whether, after the divorce of the adoptive parents, the conditions for the conversion of a simple adoption into adoption plenary session mentioned in articles 345 and 370-5 can still be considered fulfilled. It arises more specifically with regard to adults between 18 and 20 years of age whose only consent for conversion is required to the exclusion of that of their original parents. For example, to illustrate this state of affairs, certain notaries contacted regarding children adopted in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, and who have become adults, refuse to receive their consent to this conversion by arguing for article 346. It would be surprising if this conversion could not be considered in this particular case, as it concerns the simple strengthening of a pre-existing filiation link. Refusing conversion would be discriminatory against the adoptee. Accepting it only with regard to one adoptive parent would be discriminatory against the other. Also, in light of these elements, it wishes to know its position regarding the possibility, for notaries, of receiving the consent(s) necessary for the conversion of simple adoption in plenary as well as that, for the judge, of pronouncing the conversion despite this state of affairs.