Adoption Act 1955

Making of adoption orders

5: Interim orders to be made in first instance

You could also call this:

"The court makes a temporary adoption order first, before making it final."

When you apply to adopt a child, the court will consider your application. If the court thinks you should be allowed to adopt, it will usually make an interim order first, which means the adoption is not yet final. The court can make a final adoption order without an interim order if all the rules have been followed and there are special reasons to do so.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on 1 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM293133.

Topics:

Family and relationships > Adoption and guardianshipFamily and relationships > Children and parenting

4: Restrictions on making adoption orders, or

"Rules for Who Can Adopt a Child"

6: Restrictions on placing or keeping a child in a home for adoption, or

"Rules for placing a child in a home for adoption, like getting approval first"

5Interim orders to be made in first instance

Upon any application for an adoption order, if the court considers that the application should be granted, it shall in the first instance make an interim order in favour of the applicant or applicants: provided that the court may in any case make an adoption order without first making an interim order, if—
all the conditions of this Act governing the making of an interim order have been complied with; and
special circumstances render it desirable that an adoption order should be made in the first instance.