May 30, 2025

Do Adopted Children Have Inheritance Rights? A Legal Breakdown You Need to Know

by Eko Solicitors

THE NEXT OF KIN SAGA: Obi Cubana’s adopted child Chidi took to social media on a trending TikTok challenge and posted, “Nothing do my shoulder; I just realise sey I be next of kin.” Obi Cubana came on social media and cleared the air by posting a picture of himself and his biological son Alex and captioned it “Next of Kin”. Social media took turns to drag Chidi for having such a mindset. The situation underlines the evidence of potential issues of adopted children’s inheritance. Adoption is taking a slow course in Nigeria, and not every family is open to the idea; However, it is important to determine what the law says about inheritance rights and adopted children.

Inheritance rights refers to the process by which property, assets, and rights are transferred from a deceased person to their legal heirs or beneficiaries. Inheritance is quite a critical aspect of family law that provides for the transfer of assets and rights from the deceased person to their legal heirs or beneficiaries. In Nigeria, inheritance is influenced by customary practices, statutory provisions (such as administration of estate laws) and religious laws such as (Sharia law), state law also provides for inheritance rights.

Adoption is the process which creates a parent-child relationship between the adopted child and adoptive parents with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that attach to the relationship. Nigerian law allows adoption processing but it must be in accordance with the legal framework and procedures.

The Child’s Rights Act, 2003, makes provision for the adoption, and this has been reflected in the laws of states which have similar legislation. Adopted children under the law are entitled to inheritance just as any biological child is entitled to inheritance, as established in sections 12(1) of the Adoption Law of Lagos State, sections 15(1), 17 and section 25 of the Ogun State Adoption Law. However, the circumstances or status of an adopted child cannot be used to disinherit him/her, as this will negate the strict provision of Section 42 of the 1999 constitution, providing that a person will not be discriminated against based on the status or circumstances of his birth.

This section of the constitution was established in the case of Anthony Aduba v. Titus Aduba, where the court established that an adopted child has the same right as the biological child to inherit the deceased parent’s assets.

Adoption in Nigeria is formal and informal. Formal adoption is an adoption process that follows the procedure of the law as provided under Section 126(1) of the Child Rights Act. The informal adoption process is where there’s no formal procedure and it is mostly situational. The informal adoption process is the most common practice of adoption in Nigeria, it mostly entails taking an orphaned relative of a family member or taking in a child without legal processes. This also falls under the customary type of adoption as seen in Akinwande v Dogbo.

Statutory adoption is a legal form of adoption governed by written law. The Child Rights Act 2003, is the principal legislation regulating adoption in Nigeria. Which outlines the requirements which must be met to qualify for adoption in Nigeria, Section 126 of the Child Rights Act provides for persons who are eligible to adopt the following;

An application for adoption shall be made to the court in such form as may be prescribed and shall be accompanied with.
where the applicant is a married couple, their marriage certificate or a sworn declaration of marriage;
the birth certificate or sworn declaration of the age of each applicant;
two passport photographs of each applicant;
a medical certificate of the fitness of the applicant from a government hospital; and
such other documents, requirements, and information as the court may require for the purposes of the adoption.
On receipt of an application under subsection (I) of this section, the court shall order all investigations to be conducted by-
a child development officer;
a supervision officer; and
such other persons as the court may determine, to enable the court to asses ‘the suitability of the applicant as an adopter and of the child to be adopted.
The court shall, in reaching a decision relating to the adoption of a child, have regard to all the circumstances, the first consideration being given to-
the need to safeguard and promote the welfare and the best interest of the child throughout that child; and
ascertaining, as far as practicable, the wishes and feelings of the child regarding the decision and giving due consideration to those wishes and feelings, having regard to the age and understanding of the child.

The legal process of adoption is to take nothing less than one to two years from application to completion.

Conclusion

For the inheritance of an adopted child, there must be some legal adoption process. It is necessary for the adoptive parents to comply with the Nigerian adoption laws. Once this is done, the adopted child has the same right as the biological child and is entitled to the adoptive assets and property.

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