Text of the provision

Sec. 11. Case Study. – No petition for adoption shall be set for hearing unless a licensed social worker of the Department, the social service office of the local government unit, or any child-placing or child-caring agency has made a case study of the adoptee, his/her biological parent(s), as well as the adopter(s), and has submitted the report and recommendations on the matter to the court hearing such petition. At the time of preparation of the adoptee's case study, the concerned social worker shall confirm with the Civil Registry the real identity and registered name of the adoptee. If the birth of the adoptee was not registered with the Civil Registry, it shall be the responsibility of the concerned social worker to ensure that the adoptee is registered. The case study on the adoptee shall establish that he/she is legally available for adoption and that the documents to support this fact are valid and authentic. Further, the case study of the adopter

(s) shall ascertain his/her genuine intentions and that the adoption is in the best interest of the child. The Department shall intervene on behalf of the adoptee if it finds, after the conduct of the case studies, that the petition should be denied. The case studies and other relevant documents and records pertaining to the adoptee and the adoption shall be preserved by the Department.

Domestic Adoption Act of 1998, Republic Act No. 8552 (1998). Reproduced in full from the official enactment and verified word-for-word against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings.

What this section means

No adoption petition may be set for hearing until a licensed social worker has made a case study of the child, the biological parents and the adopters, and filed a report and recommendation with the court. The social worker must confirm the child’s real identity and registered name with the Civil Registry — and see to registration if the birth was never recorded — and must establish that the child is legally available for adoption on valid, authentic documents and that the adopters’ intentions are genuine. The Department may intervene to ask that the petition be denied, and must preserve the studies and records.

Related provisions

Cases citing this section

Note. The text above is reproduced in full from Republic Act No. 8552, verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings. The annotation around it is the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and is general legal information, not legal advice. How a provision applies to a particular situation depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your case can assess.