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In Iran, adopted children do not inherit from adoptive parents under the Civil Code (e.g., Article 861). I’m trying to understand how this compares with other systems, particularly English common law and Malaysian law (which involves both Islamic and civil law elements). My main question is:

My main question is: Under English common law, do adopted children have the same inheritance rights as biological children, especially when compared with inheritance rules under Islamic law (e.g., in Iran or among Muslims in Malaysia)?

Context (not separate questions): In Malaysia, especially within Muslim families, inheritance follows Islamic law. In contrast, civil law may apply to non-Muslims. In Iran, mechanisms like wills or gifts are used to transfer assets to adopted children, since automatic inheritance is not available. I have reviewed existing resources, but haven’t found a concise comparative explanation. If possible, please focus on the legal rules and practical outcomes. Kindly keep responses concise and avoid ideological debates

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    "In Iran, adopted children do not inherit from adoptive parents under the Civil Code (e.g., Article 861)." This would be a major outlier case. I can't think of any other countries where this is true (at least for adoptions while a child, but often for adult adoptions as well). Commented Apr 14 at 22:15
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    "Those peoples who set most store by kinship were also the most convinced that adoption produced all its results." - Jouvenel Commented Apr 15 at 3:43
  • Under common law, there is no such thing as legal adoption. All adoptions prior to the modern statutes creating it required the parents to designate the heir by will, and would not override entails or allow titles to pass to the adopted. Commented Apr 18 at 1:11

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Adoption and relationships of parentage are wholly statutory. A relationship of parentage established by adoption makes a person the child of the parent for all purposes of the law of Ontario, including for inheritance.

See Section 4 of the Children's Law Reform Act

4 (1) A person is the child of his or her parents.

(2) A parent of a child is,

... (b) in the case of an adopted child, a parent of the child as provided for under section 217 or 218 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017.

...

(4) For greater certainty, this section applies for all purposes of the law of Ontario.

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    This would be the normal is virtually all common law countries. Adoption did not exist at common law, but common law countries generally passed adoption statutes similar to this one. There are some circumstances in which an adopted child also inherits from biological parents or relative (e.g. some stepparent adoptions of their widow or widower partner's children). Commented Apr 14 at 22:13
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    Also, very much the same in most civil law countries. Even medieval japan did treat adoptions that way... Commented Apr 15 at 10:46
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    @Trish In medieval Japan, adoption was most often used for inheritance purposes, often of someone with parents still living, as a means of farm or business succession, at a time when the transferability of this kind of property by means other than inheritance was not as well established as it is in the modern West. Commented Apr 15 at 17:24
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    @ohwilleke One of the most famous examples of modern japan: Fusajiro Yamauchi, president of Nintendo, adopted the fiance of his daughter, Sekiryo_Kaneda, to ensure family legacy. Commented Apr 15 at 18:31
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The UK Adoption Act 1976 states in section 39

(1) An adopted child shall be treated in law—

(a) where the adopters are a married couple, as if he had been born as a child of the marriage (whether or not he was in fact born after the marriage was solemnized);

(b) in any other case, as if he had been born to the adopter in wedlock (but not as a child of any actual marriage of the adopter).

So yes, this does apply to inheritance rights. It is not Common Law, it is Statute Law.

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    There is at least one exception: adopted children don't inherit hereditary peerages. Commented Apr 17 at 8:35
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    @dbmag9 Thank you for drawing my attention to that. When I did an internet search it didn't show up the Adoption and Children Act 2002. Section 71 lists the exception for hereditary peerages legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/38/section/71 . I can't see any other exceptions. Commented Apr 17 at 18:39
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[I know, absolutely not common law but a third set (Roman Law-foundation), so maybe interesting even if it's not answering the question]

In Germany adoptive kids (afaik only adopted before their 18th birthday) have a completely equal stance to biological kids when it comes to adoption.

In fact there is absolutely no legal difference between them in any realm of law.

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    addition: Adopted kids also cease to be legally related to their biological parents/siblings for anything but marriage. Commented Apr 15 at 10:20
  • @Trish meaning "consanguinity"? Commented Apr 16 at 4:25
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Yes, based on my review of relevant legal sources and the answers provided here, it appears that under English common law—especially following the Adoption and Children Act 2002—an adopted child is treated in law as if they were born to the adoptive parents. This legal parent-child relationship applies for all purposes, including inheritance through intestacy or wills, unless a will explicitly states otherwise. Therefore, adopted children have the same inheritance rights as biological children.

By contrast, under Iranian civil law, adopted children do not inherit from their adoptive parents (see Civil Code, Article 861). Adoptive parents in Iran must therefore use tools like wills (up to one-third of their estate) or lifetime gifts to provide for adopted children.

In Malaysia, when the family is Muslim, Islamic inheritance law (Faraid) governs, which is strictly based on biological kinship. Adopted children are not recognized as heirs under this system either, though similar to Iran, provisions can be made through wills (up to one-third) or hibah (gifts).

In summary, English common law grants adopted children full inheritance rights, while Islamic-based systems, including those in Iran and among Muslims in Malaysia, restrict inheritance to biological heirs and require other legal means to support adopted children.

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