Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021

Amendment of section 58 of Act of 2005

10. Section 58 of the Act of 2005 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “adopting parent”:

“ ‘adopting parent’ means—

(a) a qualifying adopter, or

(b) a surviving parent;”,

and

(ii) by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘qualifying adopter’—

(a) in the case of an employed contributor, has the meaning given to it by section 2 (1) of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 (as amended by section 5 of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021), or

(b) in the case of a person in insurable self-employment means—

(i) in the case of a child who is, or is to be, adopted jointly by a married couple, a couple who are civil partners of each other or a cohabiting couple, the member of the couple concerned, chosen by that couple to be the qualifying adopter for the purposes of this Act, and in whose care the child (of whom neither the qualifying adopter nor his or her spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, as the case may be, is the mother or father) has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption, or

(ii) in any other case, a person who is not a surviving parent in whose care a child has been placed or is to be placed with a view to the making of an adoption order, or to the effecting of a foreign adoption or following any such adoption;

‘surviving parent’—

(a) in the case of an employed contributor, has the meaning given to it by section 2 (1) of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 (as amended by section 5 of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021), or

(b) in the case of a person in insurable self-employment means a person who was the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, as the case may be, of the qualifying adopter where the qualifying adopter concerned has died;”,

and

(b) in subsection (4)—

(i) in paragraph (b)(i), by the substitution of “a qualifying adopter within the meaning of paragraph (b) of that definition” for “an adopting parent within the meaning of subsection (1)(b)(i) or (iii)”, and

(ii) in paragraph (b)(ii)—

(I) by the substitution of “a surviving parent within the meaning of paragraph (b) of that definition” for “an adopting parent within the meaning of subsection (1)(b)(ii), where the adopting mother dies”, and

(II) in clause (II) by the substitution of “date of death of the qualifying adopter” for “date of her death”.