Consent to Adoption - Puerto Rico

Who Must Consent to an Adoption

Citation: Ann. Laws Tit. 31, § 545

The following persons shall give consent to adoption before the court:

• The adoptive party or parties
• The father, mother, or parents of the child who, at the time of the adoption, hold parental rights, as well as the father or mother who has lost parental rights to the minor as a result of a divorce decree
• The father or mother who, on the date the petition is filed, has acknowledged paternity or maternity of the minor to be adopted
• When an unemancipated minor to be adopted, whose father, mother, or parents have been deprived of parental rights, has been placed in the custody and care of the secretary of the Department of the Family
• The special guardian or guardian ad litem appointed to consent to the adoption
• The parents who are minors, but over age 18, who are married to each other on the date the adoption petition is filed
• The biological grandparents when the biological parents are unemancipated minors
• In the absence of the biological grandparents, the guardian ad litem appointed for the biological parents

Note: In Puerto Rico, the age of majority is 21 (see tit. 31, § 971).

Consent of Child Being Adopted

Citation: Ann. Laws Tit. 31, § 545

A child who is age 10 or older must consent to the adoption.

When Parental Consent is not Needed

Citation: Ann. Laws Tit. 31, § 545

The consent of the parents shall not be required in the following cases:

• When both parents or one of the parents have been deprived of their parental rights to the minor pursuant to §§ 632-634b of this title and pursuant to any other legal provisions in effect that apply to these cases
• When the adoptee is a minor emancipated by court order or granted by the father, mother, or parents with parental rights, and the adoptee is duly qualified for adoption
• When the father, mother, or parents called upon to consent are judicially declared incompetent, when their whereabouts are unknown, or they are declared absent from the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico

When Consent Can Be Executed

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

How Consent Must Be Executed

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Revocation of Consent

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.