i. Who may Adopt

Additional Attachments Generally:

• Certification from appropriate law enforcement agencies that petitioner has no pending case or no criminal record.

Rule on Adoption by Spouses

General Rule: Husband and wife shall jointly adopt.

Exceptions:

• One spouse seeks to adopt the legitimate son/daughter of the other
• One spouse seeks to adopt his/her own illegitimate son/daughter: Provided, that the other spouse has signified his/her consent or
• The spouses are legally separated from each other.

NOTE: In case husband and wife jointly adopt, or one spouse adopts an illegitimate child of the other, joint parental authority shall be exercised.

J. Leonen: The law requires that for adoption to be valid, the spouse seeking to adopt must first obtain the consent of his or her spouse and the consent of the adopters children 10 years old and above. Under RA 11642, domestic adoption proceeds administratively, and the required written consents must be obtained. Under the former judicial procedure, fraud that prevented an interested party from participating could constitute extrinsic fraud. (Castro v Gregorio, G.R. No. 188801, May 4, 2015)