The adoption of an adult can give legal recognition to a family relationship built over time, but it is neither a symbolic gesture nor a simple private agreement. It affects the surname, relations with the family of origin, and the future succession of the adoptive parent. For this reason, it is normal to wonder what ages are required, whether the adopter's children can affect the application, what consents are needed, and whether a relative can object out of fear of inheritance consequences.
I want to help you distinguish the effects of adult adoption from those of minor adoption. The core distinction is this: as a general rule, the adopted person retains their legal bond with their family of origin and does not become a relative of all the adopter's family members. However, they acquire a succession position towards the person who adopts them, with effects that deserve to be understood before starting the procedure.
Who can adopt an adult
The adopter must have legal capacity and normally be at least thirty-five years old, as well as being at least eighteen years older than the adoptee. These are the requirements set out in Article 291 of the Civil Code, located within the provisions governing the adoption of persons of age. In exceptional circumstances, the court may authorize the adoption starting from the age of thirty: this is not an automatic reduction, but a possibility linked to concrete reasons that justify the exception.
The age difference is no longer always rigid. The rule remains a gap of at least eighteen years, but the Constitutional Court declared the provision unconstitutional to the extent that it did not allow the judge to reduce it when the missing difference is very small and there are valid and deserving reasons. Therefore, it is not enough to note that only a few months are missing: the personal relationship, its history, and the reasons for the application must make the derogation sensible. The content and limits of the decision are illustrated in ruling no. 5 of 2024 of the Constitutional Court.
The presence of the adopter's children is a decisive point. If there are minor children, adult adoption remains precluded by current regulations. The Constitutional Court examined in 2025 the request to make this preclusion assessable on a case-by-case basis, but declared the issue inadmissible, noting that a change would require choices reserved for the legislature even regarding procedural guarantees for minors. If, on the other hand, the adopter's children are adults, their declaration of assent plays an essential role. Ruling no. 215 of 2025 reconstructs this framework and its evolution.
Consent, assent and dissent: which declarations matter
The adopter and the adoptee must personally want it. The consent of the two persons establishing the adoptive relationship cannot be replaced by cohabitation, a private agreement, or a testamentary provision. Until the judgment is pronounced, consent may be revoked. Therefore, adoption does not serve to make an already decided asset plan irrevocable; first and foremost, it creates a family status, namely a personal legal position.
The law also requires other declarations. The spouse of the adopter and the spouse of the adoptee are relevant when a marriage exists and there is no legal separation; furthermore, the parents of the adoptee and, in permitted cases, the adult children of the adopter are relevant. Not all of these declarations have the same nature nor do they produce the same consequences. Calling them indiscriminately "opposition" can cause the distinction that truly matters to be lost: it is necessary to understand who is called by law to express themselves and with what function.
A denial is not always surmountable in the same way. Article 297 of the Civil Code governs cases in which the court may evaluate the adoption even if an assent is missing due to incapacity or irretraceability, or if a refusal is unjustified or contrary to the adoptee's interest. However, specific limits remain for the declarations of the cohabiting spouse and the parents of the adoptee who exercise parental responsibility. The institutional guidelines of the Court of Torre Annunziata summarize the difference between the persons called upon to express themselves and the limits on overcoming dissent.
How the proceedings before the court take place
Adoption originates from a court judgment. It does not derive from a notarized deed, a will, or a declaration made within the family. The petition must be filed with the president of the ordinary court of the place where the adopter resides; the court sets the hearing at which it gathers the required declarations and verifies the conditions provided by law.
The judge also checks the convenience for the adoptee. Article 312 of the Civil Code does not turn the hearing into a judgment on the feelings of the persons involved. However, it requires that the adoption not be contrary to the adoptee's position and that there be a concrete reason to pronounce it. The pre-existing relationship, age, declarations of the family members called to intervene, and the personal and patrimonial effects of the choice thus enter the framework of the decision.
As a rule, effects begin with the decision granting adoption. Article 298 provides an important exception: if the adopter dies after giving consent, the proceedings may be completed and, if adoption is granted, its effects run from the time of death. The heirs may submit written observations. Inheritance consequences therefore cannot always be ruled out merely because death preceded the decision. The Court of Florence’s guidance helps identify the applicable procedure.
Documents serve to prove specific requirements. Birth certificates, civil status, residence, and documentation concerning the family members involved are not interchangeable formalities: they allow the verification of age, marriage, any children, and persons from whom declarations must be acquired. Submission procedures may vary according to the competent judicial office; it is therefore appropriate to distinguish the conditions set by the civil code from the practical instructions of the registry office where the petition is filed.
Surname and relations with both families
The adopted person maintains the relationship with the family of origin. Adult adoption does not, as a rule, cancel rights and duties towards original parents and relatives. This is a fundamental difference compared to full adoption of a minor: it does not completely replace one family unit with another, but adds the legal relationship with the adopter.
A general kinship with the adopter's relatives is not created. The adoptee acquires a relationship with the adopter, but does not automatically become a legal sibling, nephew, or cousin of the other members of their family. The consequence is particularly important in successions: adoption does not grant, merely by existing, inheritance rights towards the parents, siblings, or other relatives of the adopter.
The original surname remains part of the personal affair. The rule under Article 299 of the Civil Code provides for the assumption of the adopter's surname placed before one's own. Following ruling no. 135 of 2023, adopter and adoptee may request that the adopter's surname be added rather than placed before. Conversely, the total replacement of the original surname is not an effect of adoption: ruling no. 53 of 2025 of the Constitutional Court held that the question raised regarding this limit was unfounded.
What changes in the adopter's inheritance
The adoptee acquires rights in the adopter's succession. Article 304 of the Civil Code refers to succession rules for the rights of the adoptee in the succession of the person who adopted them. In practical terms, the adoptee enters the adopter's succession with the position provided for children, both when a will is missing and when it is necessary to respect the shares that the law reserves for spouse and children.
The concrete share cannot be calculated in the abstract. Upon the adopter's death, the presence of the spouse, other children, the content of the will, and donations made during lifetime all matter. Saying that the adoptee has succession rights therefore does not mean that they are always entitled to the same percentage or a specific asset. Adoption creates the family position; the distribution of the inheritance then depends on the rules applicable to the succession actually opened.
The adopter does not inherit from the adoptee by effect of adoption. This limit avoids a frequent misunderstanding: the relationship is not symmetrical on the succession level. Adoption may grant the adoptee rights towards the adopter, but it does not grant the latter a right of succession over the adoptee. Articles 291 and following of the civil code are collected in the text of the civil code available on Normattiva.
Adoption and will remain distinct instruments. Adoption is not a way to precisely assign a specific property, account, or sum. If the goal also includes the destination of specific assets, a will can have a distinct function, but it must respect the rights reserved by law to forced heirs. Confusing the recognition of the family relationship with the division of individual assets exposes one to decisions that might not achieve the desired effect.
Opposition of relatives and choices to address before filing the petition
There is no general veto by all future heirs. A sibling of the adopter, a nephew, or another relative does not obtain an independent power to block the adoption simply because they fear receiving less in a potential succession. Future inheritance expectancy does not replace the declarations that the law expressly requires in the procedure.
The adopter's children deserve a precise distinction. The presence of minor children prevents adult adoption; that of adult children makes their assent necessary in cases where adoption can be proposed. This is not merely an economic issue: adoption modifies the adoptee's status and can reflect on future succession shares. Reducing the problem to a dispute over inheritance prevents seeing all the consequences of the choice.
Before filing the petition, a few essential facts must be clarified. Age and age difference, civil status, existence and age of the adopter's children, position of the spouses and of the adoptee's parents are data that directly affect admissibility and procedure. If there is also a succession project, wills, donations, and family composition become relevant. Focusing on these elements helps understand whether adoption is the appropriate instrument and which additional patrimonial choices remain separate.
Frequently asked questions
Can I adopt an adult if I have adult children?
Yes, but their position directly matters. Adoption can be proposed in the presence of the adopter's adult children when they express the required assent. The presence of minor children, however, maintains a preclusion to adult adoption. Before filing the application, it is important to distinguish the children's age and clarify what declaration is necessary in the specific case.
Can I request adoption if only a few months are missing from the eighteen-year difference?
A limited derogation is possible only. The ordinary difference is at least eighteen years, but the judge can reduce it when the missing gap is very small and valid and deserving reasons exist. It is not an automatic rule for all consolidated family relationships: the additional conditions of adoption must also be met.
Does adult adoption cause the loss of rights towards the family of origin?
No, the original bond remains as a general rule. The adoption of an adult person does not normally sever rights and duties towards the family of origin. For this reason, the adoptee can retain succession positions connected to original parents and, at the same time, acquire rights in the succession of the person who adopted them.
Does the adopted adult always inherit an equal share to other children?
They compete in the adopter's succession as a child. The concrete measure, however, depends on who is alive at the time of succession, any spouse, other children, donations made, and the will. It is therefore incorrect to indicate a percentage without knowing the actual family and patrimonial composition.
Can an adopter's sibling object because they will receive less inheritance?
No, they do not have a general veto power. The possible reduction of a future inheritance expectancy does not grant every relative the right to prevent adoption. The position of persons from whom the law requires a declaration in the procedure is different, such as the adopter's adult children and, under provided conditions, the adoptee's spouses and parents.
Can I completely replace my surname with the adopter's one?
No, the adoption judgment alone does not cancel the original surname. The adoptee assumes the adopter's surname according to the methods provided by law; it can be added instead of placed before when adopter and adoptee request it in their consent. The complete replacement of the original surname is instead not an effect of adult adoption.