It had been a few years since his separation from Sally, but life was looking up for Luke. He got on well with Sally’s new partner, Emilio, and he had a great girlfriend of his own, Yassica.
Luke was co-parenting his daughter with Sally. Yassica also had a young daughter, Mildred, who Luke adored.
Mildred was the result of a happy accident between Yassica and Roy, a young dishwasher who used to work with Yassica at a local restaurant. Yassica welcomed the arrival of Mildred, but Roy had always maintained that fatherhood wasn’t for him.
Luke was aware of Mildred’s parentage, and a few years after being welcomed into Yassica’s home, he decided to talk to her about what the future holds.
“Yassica, listen”, Luke started. “I don’t really want to get married again. I feel like it’s an unnecessary expense, and I don’t need it to justify my love for you”.
“I understand completely” Yassica said. “We have better things to do with our money”.
“That being said, I have a deep affection for you and for Mildred, and I’ve come to think of myself as a father figure for her”
“I agree” Yassica said. “I think she thinks of you in the same way. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I think so” Luke said. “I think I would like to adopt Mildred”
Luke and Yassica booked an appointment to see a lawyer at Edmonds Judd, who explained the adoption process to them.
“First, we’ll need Roy to consent to the adoption. He would be giving up some pretty important rights. However, if Roy doesn’t want to consent, or if we just can’t get him to sign the consent forms for whatever reason, then we may be able to dispense with his consent, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that because dispensing with consent can be difficult” the lawyer explained.
“Following this, we would need to apply to the Court for an interim adoption order and then a final adoption order. This would give Luke all the rights of parenthood and, as far as the law is concerned, it would be as if Mildred was his own natural daughter.
Roy happily agreed to provide his consent, as he didn’t want to get in the way of Luke and Mildred’s happiness. The Court agreed that an adoption would promote the best interests of Mildred, and that Luke was a fit and proper person to adopt.
Once the interim adoption order was made, Luke and Mildred received a few visits from a social worker, who reported to the Court that all was going well, and after a final adoption order was made by the Court.
Luke, Yassica, and Mildred were delighted, and decided to have a party to celebrate the adoption with friends and family. But the thing with parties, is that not all attendees are always happy to be there…
