De Facto Adoption Law and Legal Definition
De facto adoption refers to a voidable agreement to adopt a child, based on a statutory proceeding in a particular state, which becomes de jure adoption when the petition for adoption is properly presented. A de facto adoption permits individuals to circumvent statutory adoption procedures for certain limited purposes.
”A de facto adoption generally arises when some attempt at formal adoption falls short of completion of statutory adoption’. [In re Marriage of Thier, 67 Wn. App. 940, 947 (Wash. Ct. App. 1992)]
