What does out of wedlock mean when a child is adopted?
OK, this might be a question only attorneys would ask, but there’s a reason why we ask it, and that reason is A.R.S. § 8-117. That law states that when a child is adopted, the law will treat that child “as though the child were born to the adoptive parent in lawful wedlock.” That was the issue in Sheets v. Mead, 238 Ariz. 55 (App. 2015) where a lesbian couple had been foster parents to a child. They intended to raise the child together, but because same-sex marriage was not legal at the time, only one of them could adopt the child. Thereafter, they broke up, and the adoptive mother blocked her former partner from seeing the child. Her former partner filed for third-PartyAn individual, entity, or the state that either brings the lawsuit or is required to respond to the lawsuit. See ARFLP Rule 3(f).Read more about Party visitation on the BasisA tax term describing the price a taxpayer paid to acquire a property. When a property or asset is sold, basis is deducted from the selling price to determine whether there is a taxable gain or loss. For items awarded in a divorce, those items are not taxed as part of the divorce…Read more about Basis that the child was not born in lawful wedlock. The Court of AppealsThis is the Court that hears appeals and special actions from the decisions made by the superior court. A panel of three judges reviews each appeal and issues a ruling. The Arizona Supreme Court is the only state court higher than the Court of Appeals.Read more about Court of Appeals held that when a child is adopted before a visitation PetitionThis is a court document that someone files to start a case.Read more about Petition is filed, a third party cannot bring a visitation petition on the basis that the child was born out of wedlock. Sheets v. Mead, 238 Ariz. 55, 58 ¶ 16 (App. 2015). That ruling was, for obvious, widely viewed as unjust. The Legislature has since responded by changing the law to override Sheets by introducing A.R.S. § 25-409(I), which provides, “For the purposes of this section, a child who is adopted may be treated as if born in lawful wedlock only if the child is adopted jointly by parents who are married to one another as provided in section 8-103, subsection A.”
