Adoption and Inheritance by Persons with Disabilities

Rights of persons with disability, especially of certain groups are limited in nature. Mental disability and leprosy are two such instances. Personal laws in India do not consider adoption by persons with certain disabilities as valid. Nonetheless, if a child is adopted then, he or she is automatically entitled to all rights of inheritance. However, should the validity of the adoption be questioned, then the issue of the rights to inheritance gets a little complicated.

Courts have made very useful interventions in resolving such situations. It has been the opinion of the Judiciary in these cases that the validity of such an adoption is entirely dependent on the severity and type of the foster parent’s disability. Questions have been raised as to what should be the nature of the mental disability to disentitle and adopted child from inheritance rights. This was clarified in a case where the Court held that only children who were adopted by a foster parent who was mentally disabled from birth were not entitled to inherit their father’s property.

Similarly, in another case involving the issue of adoption by a person with leprosy, the Courts clarified that such a step would not be allowed if the disease was of a virulent nature as it would be against the best interest of the child.

Judgments related to "Adoption and Inheritance by Persons with Disabilities"

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