Spec Pro Class 2020

• Rescission relates only as to the date of the judgment. Hence, vested rights prior to rescission should be respected. (Sec. 20, Art. VI, R.A. No. 8552)

 

Applicability: The grounds for revocation of an adoption refer only to an adoption validly decreed, not to an adoption void from the beginning because tainted with fraud.

 

Section 1. Who may file petition; grounds

1. Adoptee

• Over 18 years of age; or

• If still a minor with assistance of DSWD.

2. Guardian or counsel, if over 18 but incapacitated

 

Grounds for rescission or revocation (RASA):

—Repeated physical violence and verbal maltreatment by the adopter despite having undergone counseling;

—Attempt on the life of the adoptee;

—Sexual assault or violence; or

—Abandonment or failure to comply with parental obligations

 

Section 2. Order to answer

— Adverse party shall file his answer within fifteen (15) days from receipt of order of court requiring him to answer. (Sec. 22)

​

— The court does not have jurisdiction to annul after the period fixed by the Rule, a decree of adoption. For reasons of public order, judicial litigations must have an end; hence, decisions must not be changed after the expiration of the period, it being beyond the jurisdiction or control of courts.

​

Section 3. Judgment

 

Effects of Judgment of Rescission:

—Parental authority of biological parent or legal custody of DSWD will be restored;

—Reciprocal rights of adoptee and adopter will be extinguished;

—Vested rights acquired prior to judicial rescission shall be respected;

—Successional rights shall revert to its status prior to adoption as of the date of judgment of judicial rescission;

—Adoptee shall use the name stated in his original birth or foundling certificate;

—Civil registrar will reinstate his original birth or foundling certificate.

​

Agreement between the adopter and adopted:

A subsequent agreement between them nor between adopter and natural parents cannot by itself effectuate the revocation of adoption.

 

Collateral attack on the validity of adoption:

The settled rule is that a finding that the requisite jurisdictional fact exists, whether erroneous or not, cannot be questioned in a collateral proceeding, for a presumption arises in such cases where the validity of the judgment is thus attacked that the necessary jurisdictional facts were proven.

 

Section 5. Time within which to file petition

 

Period within which to file verified petition

—Within five (5) years from reaching the age of majority or after recovery from incompetency. (Sec. 21)