Wills for adopted children

An adoption order under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 permanently transfers legal parenthood from the birth parents to the adoptive parents. From that point, the child is treated in almost all legal respects, including inheritance, as the child of the adoptive parents rather than the birth parents.

This means an adopted child inherits from their adoptive parents on exactly the same basis as a birth child would, and in general no longer has an automatic right to inherit from their birth parents under the intestacy rules, even though the biological relationship obviously still exists.

If an adoptive parent dies without a will, the intestacy rules apply exactly as they would for a birth child: adopted children are included in the fixed order of inheritance alongside any birth children, with no legal distinction between them. There is no need for a will simply to secure this basic level of equal treatment, since it happens automatically.

That said, dying intestate still has the usual drawbacks, no say over guardians, no specific gifts, and a rigid formula that may not match your actual wishes, so this is not a reason to skip making a will altogether.

General wording such as 'my children' or 'to my children in equal shares' automatically includes legally adopted children without you needing to say so specifically, because the law treats them as your children in every sense. Many parents still choose to name each child individually by name for extra clarity and to avoid any possible confusion for executors or family members.

If your family includes children from different relationships, some adopted and some not, and you want to treat them identically, saying so explicitly, such as 'my children, namely [names], whether by birth or adoption, in equal shares', removes any doubt entirely.

If you write a will before adopting a child, and then complete an adoption afterwards, it is worth reviewing your will to make sure the new child is properly covered, particularly if your will lists children by name rather than using a general term like 'my children'. A will that only names existing children by name may not automatically extend to a child adopted afterwards, depending on the exact wording used.

As a general rule, any significant change in your family, including an adoption, is a good prompt to review your whole will rather than assuming the existing wording still reflects your wishes.

As the legal parent of an adopted child, you can name guardians for them in your will in exactly the same way as for a birth child, and this appointment carries the same legal weight under the Children Act 1989. There is no additional step needed because the child was adopted rather than born to you.

If your adopted child has an ongoing relationship with birth family members that you consider important, you can record your wishes about maintaining contact in a letter of wishes alongside the will, though this is not legally binding on a guardian in the way the guardianship appointment itself is.