Separated couple win legal right to adopt girl, 8, in landmark ruling

A JUDGE has ruled that two people can finalise the adoption of an eight-year-old girl despite them having separated and no longer living in the same household.

- By Neil Pooran

In the first legal opinion of its kind in Scotland, it was decided the adults can adopt as co-parents, even though they are not married, in a civil partner ship or together as a couple.

The judge, Lady Tait, sitting at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, ruled the pair are nevertheless living as a "family unit", albeit in two house holds and the adoption would be in the best interests of the girl.

The law firm which represented the two adults said the decision aligns adoption legislation with the reality of modern family life.

Thriving

A written judgment said the girl had been living with the couple since 2020. They separated in the middle of 2023.

Since then, the girl and a boy she regards as a sibling have had a home with both parents.