After adoptive parents pass away, an adopted child can not terminate the adoptive relationship unilaterally and marry a legitimate child of said adoptive parents. One of the reasons a couple may adopt a child is to have the adoptive child marry their legitimate child. Hence, the adoptive relationship should not restricted by J.Y. Interpretation No. 32.

       Pursuant to J.Y. Interpretation No. 32, an adopted child must first terminate the adoptive relationship and then he/she can marry the legitimate child of said adoptive parents. However, if the adoptive parents did not approve of the marriage, which situation is explained in J.Y. Interpretation No. 58, between the adopted child and legitimate child before they passed away, the adopted child can not terminate the adoptive relationship unilaterally. His/her marriage with the legitimate child of adoptive parents would be unlawful; even so, this circumstance only concerns an adoptive relationship under the Civil Code. If adoptive parents intended to have an adoptive child marry their legitimate child when they adopted the child, such as adopt a girl to marry a legitimate male child or adopt a boy to marry a legitimate female child when they grow up, this is not “adoption” according to the Civil Code and thus such cases should not be restricted by Interpretation No. 32.

*Translated by Lawrence L. C. Lee.