Chap. 205.—An ACT to amend the Code of Virginia by adding thereto a new
chapter, numbered 216-A, and twelve new sections, numbered 5333-a to 5333-1,
providing for the adoption of children and prescribing the procedure and inci-
dents thereof; and to repeal Section 5333 of the Code of Virginia, as heretofore
amended. [H B 18]

Approved March 12, 1942 |

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That the
Code of Virginia be amended by adding thereto a new chapter, numbered
two hundred and sixteen-A, and twelve new sections, numbered five thou-
sand three hundred and thirty-three-a to five thousand three hundred and
thirty-three-l, as follows: ,

CHAPTER 216-A
Adoption

Section 5333-a. Definitions——As used in this chapter—

“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Public Welfare; and

“Child placing agency” means any person, agency or other instru-
mentality licensed or otherwise lawfully qualified as such, and authorized
to place children in foster homes for care and maintenance separated from
their parents or guardians.

Section 5333-b. Jurisdiction and proceedings.—Proceedings for the
adoption of a minor child and for a change of the name of such child shall
be by petition to any court of record having chancery jurisdiction in the
county or city in which the petitioner resides, provided that the Chancery
Court of the City of Richmond shall have exclusive jurisdiction in every
such case arising in the said city if the petitioner resides on the north side
of the James River, and that the Hustings Court of the City of Richmond,
Part II, shall have exclusive jurisdiction if the petitioner resides in the
said city on the south side of the James River. A petition may be filed by
any natural person who is a resident of the State of Virginia for leave to
adopt a minor child not legally his by birth, and, if it be so desired by
the petitioner, also to change the name of such child. In the case of married
persons the petition shall be the joint petition of the husband and wife, but
in the event the child to be adopted is legally the child by birth or adoption
of one of the petitioners such petitioner shall unite in the petition for the
purpose of indicating his or her consent to the prayer thereof only,

Section 5333-c. Preliminary investigations; duties of Commis-
sioner.—Upon the filing of the petition, the court wherein the petition is
filed, or the clerk thereof upon order of the court, shall forthwith forward
a copy of the petition to the Commissioner who shall cause to be made a
thorough investigation of the matter and report thereon in writing to the
court within sixty days after the copy of the petition is forwarded to him.
Such investigation may be made through the Superintendent of Public
Welfare, or other welfare agency, of a county or city, or through a child
placing agency. The investigation shall include, in addition to any other
inquiries which the court may require the Commissioner to make, inquiries
as to (1) whether the petitioner is financially able and morally fit to care
for and to train the child, (2) what the physical and mental condition of
the child is, (3) why the parents, if living, desire to be relieved of the re-
sponsibility for the custody, care and maintenance of the child, and what
their attitude is toward the proposed adoption, (4) whether the parents
have abandoned the child or are morally unfit to have custody over him,
(5) the circumstances under which the child came to live, and is living,
in the home of the petitioner, and (6) whether the child is a suitable child
for adoption by the petitioner. In making his report the Commissioner
shall also include his recommendation as to the action to be taken by the
court on the petition.

Section 5333-d.. Parental consent, et cetera——No petition for adop-
tion shall be granted by the court unless written consent thereto, signed
and acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to take acknow-
ledgments and filed with the petition, be given by the child, if fourteen
years of age or older, and (1) by both parents if they are both living, or
(2) by the living parent if one of the parents is dead, or (3) by the mother
in the case of a child born out of wedlock, or (4) by one parent if the
other has deserted, neglected or cruelly abused the child, or is insane, or
if the consent of such other parent, for any reason deemed satisfactory by
the court, is not necessary in the circumstances prevailing as disclosed
by the evidence, or (5) by a child placing agency in case the parental
rights of both parents have been terminated by any court of competent
jurisdiction, or by other legal means, and the child has been lawfully
placed under the care and custody of such agency, or (6) by the Com-
missioner in any condition of fact not hereinabove provided for. In the
event one or both parents whose consent is hereinbefore required cannot
be found after a reasonable investigation, the consent of such parent or
parents shall not be required, but consent by the Commissioner shall be
sufficient. In any case where the custodial rights of one parent have been
terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction, or the child is under the
care and custody of a child placing agency, the court may grant a petition
for adoption without the consent of the parent who has lost custody of
such child or without the consent of such child placing agency, if, after
hearing evidence, the court finds that such consent is withheld contrary
to the best interest of the child; and notice to such parent having lost
custody or to such child placing agency shall be given unless the court, in
its discretion, by order directs otherwise.

Section 5333-e. Interlocutory order—(a) If, after considering
the report of the Commissioner, the court is satisfied that all of the re-
quirements of this chapter have been complied with, that the petitioner is
cH. 205] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY’ 257

financially able and morally fit adequately to maintain, care for and train
the child, that the child is suitable for adoption by the petitioner, and that
the best interests of the child will be promoted by the adoption, shall enter
an interlocutory order of adoption declaring that henceforth, subject to
the probationary period hereinafter provided for and to the provisions of
the final order of adoption, the child will be, to all intents and purposes,
the child of the petitioner, and, if the petition includes a prayer for a
change of the child’s name and the court is satisfied that such change is
for the best interests of the child, that, upon entry of final order, the name
of the child shall be changed. An attested copy of every interlocutory
order of adoption shall be forwarded forthwith by the clerk of the court
in which it was entered to the Commissioner.

(b) If the child is legally the child by birth or adoption of one of
the petitioners, or if the child has been placed in the home of the petitioner
by a child placing agency and such agency certifies to the court that the
child has lived in the home of the petitioner continuously for a period of at
least one year next preceding the filing of the petition, and has been visited
by a representative of such agency at least once in every three months dur-
ing such year, and if the court is of the opinion that the entry of an in-
terlocutory order would otherwise be proper, the court may omit the pro-
bationary period hereinafter provided for and the interlocutory order, and
enter a final order of adoption. |

(c) The court may, by order entered of record, revoke its inter-
locutory order of adoption at any time prior to the entry of the final order,
for good cause shown, on its own motion, or on the motion of the natural
parents of the child, or of the petitioner, or of the child himself by his next
friend, or of a child placing agency, or of the Commissioner ; but no such
order of revocation shall be entered, except on motion of the petitioner,
unless the petitioner is given ten days’ notice of such motion in writing
and an opportunity to be heard or has removed from the State.

The clerk of the court shall forward an attested copy of every such
order to the Commissioner.

Section 5333-f. Probationary period; visitations and reports.—
After the entry of an interlocutory order of adoption, the Commissioner
shall cause the child to be visited in the home of the petitioner, at least
once during each period of three months prior to the entry of the final
order of adoption, by an agent of the State Department of Public Welfare
or of a local board or department of public welfare, or by an agent of a
child placing agency, or, if the petitioner has moved outside of the State,
by a representative of a public welfare agency, or of any agency approved
by the public welfare authorities, of the State, territory or country into
which the petitioner has moved. The Commissioner shall make to the
court a written report of his findings made pursuant to such visitations,
within fifteen days after the expiration of one year from the date upon
which the interlocutory order was entered. , , .

Section 5333-g. Final order of adoption.—After the expiration of
one year from the date upon which the interlocutory order is entered, and
after considering the report of the Commissioner made pursuant to the
preceding section, if the court is satisfied that the best interests of the
child will be served thereby, the court shall enter the final order of adop-
tion. An attested copy of every final order of adoption shall be forwarded,
by the clerk of the court in which it was entered, to the Commissioner.

Section 5333-h. Legal effects of adoption; descents and distribu-
tions—(a) The natural parents, and the parents by previous adoption,
if any, other than any such parent who is the husband or wife of one of
the petitioners, shall, by such final order of adoption, be divested of all
legal rights and obligations in respect to the child, and the child shall be
free from all legal obligations of obedience and maintenance in respect to
them. Any child adopted under the provisions of this chapter shall, from
and after the entry of the interlocutory order or from and after the entry
of the final order where no such interlocutory order is entered, be, to all
intents and purposes, the child of the person or persons so adopting him,
and, unless and until such interlocutory order or final order is subse-
quently revoked, shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges, and
subject to all the obligations, of a child of such person or persons born in
lawful wedlock. | ,

(b) For the purpose of descent and distribution, a legally adopted
child shall inherit, according to the statutes of descent and distribution,
from and through both the natural parents and the parents by adoption
from the time of entry of an interlocutory order. If an adopted child shall
die intestate, without issue surviving him, his property shall pass, accord-
ing to the statutes of descent and distribution, to those persons who would
have taken had the descendent been the natural child of the adopting
parents; provided, however, that any property, real or personal, derived
by deed, or by gift, or by will, or by inheritance, from the natural parents,
or from either of them or their kindred, and capable of identification as
such, shall pass, according to the statutes of descent and distribution, as
if he had not been adopted. , |

“Section 5333-i. Reports to the Bureau of Vital Statistics ——The
clerk of the court by which a final order of adoption is entered shall report
to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, on forms provided by the Bureau for
this purpose, every final adoption of a child under this chapter, which
report shall be included with his monthly report of marriages and di-
vorces, if any. There shall be allowed to the clerk a fee of twenty-five
cents for each adoption reported, to be paid out of the State treasury from
funds appropriated for that purpose and included with payments for
reporting marriages and divorces, if any, upon certification by the Bureau
of Vital Statistics.

Section 5333-j. Disposition of Commissioner’s reports——Upon the
entry of a final order of adoption, or other final disposition of the matter
the clerk of the court in which it was entered shall forthwith return to
the Commissioner all reports made by him, and the Commissioner shall
preserve such reports in a separate file which shall not be open to inspec-
tion, or be copied, by anyone other than the adopted child, if twenty-one
years of age, and the adoptive parents, except upon the order of a court
of record entered upon good cause shown. hs | -

Section 5333-k. Final order not subject to attack after two years.—
After the expiration of two years from the date of the entry of a final
cus. 205, 206] ‘ACTS OF ‘ASSEMBLY 259

order of adoption, the validity thereof shall not be subject to attack in any
proceedings, collateral or:direct, by reason of any screemlanNy | in proceed-
ings had pursuant to this chapter.»

Section 5333-1. Annulment of adoptions At any time after the
entry of a final order of adoption, the Commissioner, or the child, if
twenty-one years or more of age, and if not twenty-one years of age, then
the child by its next friend, or the parent by adoption, may petition the
court which entered such order of adoption to vacate the same and restore
the former name, if the name was changed. The court shall hear the evi-
dence and if it appears therefrom that:a termination of such adoption and
restoration of name is manifestly right and proper, and especially if it
appears to be for the best interests of the child, the court shall vacate said
final order of adoption and change the name, and thereupon such child
shall be restored, to all intents and purposes, to the position and name
which were his prior to the adoption. Before acting upon any such peti-
tion, however, ten days notice in writing shall be given to the parents by
adoption, to the Commissioner, and to the child placing agency which
placed the child in the home of the parents by adoption or consented to
the adoption, if such was the case, or to such of them as are not parties to
the petition. The court shall require the child to appear before it and give
him an opportunity to express his- wishes in the matter, if such child is
over fourteen years of age, although the decision of the court need not be
controlled thereby. The court shall see that all the property rights of such
child, as well as of the parents by adoption, are protected, and may make
such orders as may be proper in the premises according to the require-
ments of justice.

2. Be it further enacted, That section five thousand three hundred
and thirty-three of the hate of MAGUEY as heretofore ERATE 1S re-
posed.