Does an Adopted Child Have Inheritance Rights From Adoptive Parents in Ontario?

An adopted child becomes the child of the adoptive parent on the date of the adoption order, though this change in status does not apply for the purposes of the laws on incest and the prohibited degrees of marriage. That is the legal status an estate question starts from, but how an estate is divided depends on whether there is a will, how it is worded and which law applies, so a lawyer can confirm your situation.

On that same date, each former parent generally stops being a parent. The exception is a stepparent adoption, where the parent married to or partnered with the stepparent stays a legal parent. For an adopted child, parentage is determined under the CYFSA rather than the parentage rules for children who are not adopted in the Children's Law Reform Act.

Adoption is not only for children: a court may order the adoption of a person 18 or older, and that person's own written consent is required. After adoption, no court may make an order under Part VIII for access to the child by a birth parent or a member of a birth parent's family. Whether a birth relative can inherit depends on the will and the facts, and a lawyer can confirm.