Section 170-B:25 Effect of Petition and Decree of Adoption; Inheritance. - New Hampshire Statutes

   I. Upon the issuance of the final decree of adoption, the adoptee shall be considered the child of the adopting parent or parents, entitled to the same rights and privileges and subject to the same duties and obligations as if such adoptee had been born of the adopting parent or parents.
   II. Until the issuance of the final decree of adoption, the adoptee shall be considered the child of such adoptee's birth parent or parents only with respect to inheritance rights or privileges; but, when a child is adopted by a stepparent, the child's relationship to such child's birth parent who is married to the stepparent shall in no way be altered by reason of the adoption.
   III. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon the issuance of a final decree of adoption in which only one spouse is petitioner, the adopted child shall be the child of the adopting spouse. Such child's relationship to the birth parent of the same sex as the non-adopting spouse shall not be altered if the child and the birth parent so agree. Such child shall no longer be deemed to be the child of such child's birth parent of the same sex as the adopting spouse.
   IV. Until the issuance of a final decree of adoption, all reciprocal rights of inheritance between the adoptee and the adoptee's birth parents and their respective collateral or lineal relatives shall continue to exist.
   V. Upon the issuance of a final decree of adoption, all reciprocal rights of inheritance between the adoptee and the adoptive parents and their respective collateral or lineal relatives shall contemporaneously begin.
   VI. Nothing contained in this section shall limit in any way the right of any person to provide for the disposition of his or her property by will. The rights of a child adopted after the making of a will by the adoptive parent or parents shall be the same as the rights of an after-born child. When the adoptive parent is a stepparent, married to a birth parent, nothing contained in this section shall affect the rights of inheritance between the child and such child's birth parent or their collateral or lineal relatives. In the absence of specific language to the contrary, an adoptee shall be considered the same as a birth child, issue or heir of the body.

Source. 2004, 255:1, eff. Jan. 2, 2005. 2006, 200:10, 11, eff. July 30, 2006.