Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 68 Part 1.djvu/277

 STAT.]

PUBLIC LAW 392-JUNE 8, 1954 APPEAL

SEC. 13. Any party to an adoption proceeding may appeal to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from any interlocutory or final order or decree of adoption of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. RECORDS

SEC. 14. Records and papers in adoption proceedings shall, from and after the filing of the petition, be sealed and shall not be inspected by any person, including the parties to the proceeding, except upon order of the court, and only then when the court is satisfied that the welfare of the child will thereby be promoted or protected. The clerk of the court shall keep separate dockets for adoption proceedings. LEGAL EFFECTS OF DECREE OF ADOPTION

SEC. 15. (a) A final decree of adoption shall establish the relationship of natural parent and natural child between adoptor and adoptee for all purposes, including mutual rights of inheritance and succession the same as if adoptee was born to adoptor. Such adoptee shall take from, through, and as a representative of his adoptive parent or parents in the same manner as a child by birth, and upon the death of an adoptee intestate, his property shall pass and be distributed in the same manner as if such adoptee had been born to such adopting parent or parents in lawful wedlock. All rights and duties including those of inheritance and succession between the adoptee, his natural parents, their issue, collateral relatives, and so forth, shall be cut off, except that in the event one of the natural parents is the spouse of the adoptor, then the rights and relations as between adoptee, such natural parent, and his parents and collateral relatives, including mutual rights of inheritance and succession, shall in nowise be altered. (b) An interlocutory decree of adoption shall, while it is in force, have the same legal effects as a final decree of adoption. Upon the revocation of an interlocutory decree of adoption, the status of the adoptee, the natural parents of the adoptee, and the petitioners shall be as though the interlocutory decree were null and void ab initio. (c) The family name of the adoptee shall be changed to that of adoptor unless the decree shall otherwise provide, and the given name of the adoptee may be fixed or changed at the same time. BIRTH C E R T I F I C A T E S

SEC. 16. (a) Notice of a final decree of adoption shall be sent to the Commissioners. The Commissioners, unless otherwise requested in the petition by the adopters, shall cause to be made a new record of the birth in the new name and with the names of the adoptors and shall then cause to be sealed and filed the original birth certificate with the order of the court and such sealed package shall be opened only by order of the court. (b) If the adoption occurred outside of the District either before or after August 25, 1937, upon filing with the Commissioners a certified copy of the final decree of adoption, the Commissioners shall cause to be made a new record of the birth in the new name and with

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