[2013] KEHC 6410 (KLR)
The court found that the applicants had satisfied all statutory requirements for adoption under the Children.s Act. The child was abandoned, his biological parents could not be traced, and he had been legally freed for adoption by a registered adoption agency. The applicants had been assessed and found suitable by...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2013] KEHC 6410 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: C M O; Applicant: W N; Respondent: Baby J T (minor)
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 114 of 2012
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Judgment
- Outcome
- Adoption granted.
- Judges
- DN Musyoka
- Legal Topics
- Adoption Procedure, Best Interests of Child, Parental Rights, Abandoned Children
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
C M O
Applicant
W N
Applicant
Baby J T (minor)
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Judgment
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the applicants meet the legal requirements for adoption under the Children.s Act.
- 2 Whether the adoption is in the best interests of the child.
- 3 Whether all necessary consents and reports have been properly obtained.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicants had satisfied all statutory requirements for adoption under the Children.s Act. The child was abandoned, his biological parents could not be traced, and he had been legally freed for adoption by a registered adoption agency. The applicants had been assessed and found suitable by both the Director of Children Services and the guardian ad litem, with all reports recommending the adoption. The court determined that the adoption was in the best interests of the child, as the applicants could provide a stable, loving home and assume full parental rights and responsibilities. The court emphasized that the adoption order would be final and binding, and the...
Court Disposition
Adoption granted.
Orders
- The applicants, C M O and W N, are allowed to adopt the child, Baby J T (minor), who shall hereafter be known as S J O M (minor).
- W N and M M are appointed legal guardians of the child in the event something happens to the applicants.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
17 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT MILIMANI
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 114 OF 2012 (OS)
AND
IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN’S ACT
(NO. 8 OF 2001)
AND
IN THE MATTER OF BABY B alias BABY J T (MINOR)
JUDGEMENT
The applicants, C M O and W N, are Kenyan citizens. They are a married couple. Their Originating Summons is dated 4th June 2012, in which they seek, among other orders, to adopt a male child, Baby J T (minor).
Baby J T(minor), the subject of these adoption proceedings is an abandoned child. He is estimated to have been born on (withheld). He was abandoned in the (withheld) area, (withheld) municipality on 14th August 2011, and a report was made at the Nyeri Police Station by good Samaritans who had found him. He was admitted to an institution, the N[.........], to which he was later to be committed by the Children’s Court. He was placed with the applicants on 29th June 2011 and has been with them to date. The parents of the child have never been traced. Consequently, he was freed for adoption by the Little Angels Network adoption agency by their certificate of 14th December 2011.
To facilitate this adoption, the applicants have been assessed by the Director of Children Services and the guardian ad litem, V.K.K. These two have compiled and filed their reports in court dated 31st August 2012 and 3rd October 2012. All these reports are favourable and recommend the proposed adoption. The applicants have demonstrated that they have the financial and emotional capability and capacity to take care of the child. The child appears to have bonded well with them and he considers them to be his parents.
In the opinion of this court it would be in the best interests of the child that he is adopted by the applicants. The applicants will be able to provide a home and a family for the child to grow up in and thereafter be a useful member of the family. Consequently, the applicants shall assume all parental rights and duties of the biological parents in respect of the adopted child; they shall treat the adopted child as if he was born to them. The applicants have been made aware that once the adoption order is made it shall be final and binding during the lifetime of the child and that the child shall have the right to inherit their property. The applicant cannot give up the child owing to any subsequent unforeseen behaviour or other changes in the child.
I am satisfied that all the legal requirements for a local adoption have been met. I will allow the applicants’ application to adopt the child. The applicants, C M O and W N, are hereby allowed to adopt the child, Baby J T (minor). He shall hereafter be known S J O M (minor). W N and M M are hereby appointed legal guardians of the child in the event something happens to the applicants. The Registrar-General is directed to enter this adoption order in the adoption register. The guardian ad litemis hereby discharged.
DATED, SIGNED and DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 12th DAY OF July, 2013.
W. M. MUSYOKA
JUDGE