APPRENTICING AND ADOPTION OF CHILDREN.
Any minor child may be bound to service
until the attainment of the age of legal majority
as hereinafter described. [Se.]
Such binding must be by written indenture,
specifying the age of the minor and the terms of agreement.
If the minor is more than twelve years of age and
not a pauper, the indenture must be signed by him of
his own free will. [Se.]
A written consent must be appended
to or endorsed upon such agreement, and signed by
one of the following persons, to-wit:
1. By the father of the minor;
but if he is dead or has abandoned his family, or
is for any cause incapacitated from giving his assent,
then
2. By the mother; and if she
be dead or unable, or incapacitated for giving such
assent, then,
3. By the guardian; and if there
be no guardian, then by the clerk of the district
court. [Se.]
Upon complaint being made to the district
court of the proper county, verified by affidavit,
that the father or mother of a minor child is from
habitual intemperance and vicious and brutal conduct,
or from vicious, brutal and criminal conduct toward
said minor child, an unsuitable person to retain the
guardianship and control the education of such child,
the court may, if it find the allegations in the complaint
manifestly true, appoint a proper guardian for the
child, and may if expedient, also direct that said
child be bound as an apprentice to some suitable person
until he attains his majority. But nothing herein
shall be so construed as to take such minor child if
the mother be a proper guardian. [Se.]
The same proceedings may take place
and a like order be made, when the mother, who for
any cause became the guardian of her minor child, is
in like manner found to be manifestly an improper
person to retain such guardianship. [Se.]
The master shall send said minor child,
after the same be six years old, to school at least
four months in each year, if there be a school in the
district, and at all times the master shall clothe
the minor in a comfortable and becoming manner. [Se.]
Any person competent to make a will
is authorized in manner hereinafter set forth, to
adopt as his own the minor child of another, conferring
thereby upon such child all the rights, privileges
and responsibilities which would pertain to the child
if born to the person adopting, in lawful wedlock.
[Se.]
In order thereto, the consent of both
parents if living and not divorced or separated, and
if divorced or separated, or, if unmarried, the consent
of the parent lawfully having the care and providing
for the wants of the child, or if either parent is
dead, then the consent of the survivor, or if both
parents be dead, or the child shall have been and
remain abandoned by them, then the consent of the mayor
of the city where the child is living, or if not in
a city, then the clerk of the district court of the
county where the child is living, shall be given to
such adoption, by an instrument in writing signed by
the parties or party consenting, and stating the names
of the parents, if known, the name of the child, if
known, the name of the person adopting such child,
and the residence of all, if known, and declaring the
name by which such child is hereafter to be called
and known, and stating also that such child is to
be given to the person adopting, for the purpose of
adoption as his own child. [Se]
Such instrument in writing shall be
also signed by the person adopting and shall be acknowledged
by all parties thereto in the same manner as deeds
affecting real estate are required to be acknowledged;
and shall be recorded in the recorder’s office
in the county where the person adopting resides, and
shall be indexed with the name of the parents by adoption
as grantors and the child as grantee, in its original
name if stated in the instrument, [Se.] A strict
compliance in every particular with the provisions
of the statutes is essential to constitute a legal
adoption and to confer upon the adopted child rights
of inheritance. If a minor child has a guardian
his consent must be obtained before the child can
be legally adopted.
Upon the execution, acknowledgment
and filing for record of such instrument, the rights,
duties and relations between the parent and child
by adoption, shall, thereafter, in all respects, including
the right of inheritance, be the same that exists
by law between parent and child by lawful birth. [Se].
The right of a child by adoption to inherit from the
parents by adoption, depends upon a strict compliance
with the requirements of the law in every particular,
including the acknowledgment and recording of the
articles of adoption. It is also essential that
the instrument shall be filed for record before the
death of the adopted parent and while the child is
a minor. A child by adoption does not lose the
right to inherit from his natural parents, but is
entitled to all rights of inheritance from both natural
and adopted parents.
In case of maltreatment committed
or allowed by the adopted parent, or palpable neglect
of duty on his part, toward such child, the custody
thereof may be taken from him and entrusted to another
at his expense, if so ordered by the district court
of the county where the parent resides; or the court
may, on showing of the facts, require from the adopted
parent, bond with security, in a sum to be fixed by
him, the county being the obligee, and for the benefit
of the child, conditioned for the proper treatment
and performance of duty towards the child on the part
of the parent; but no action of the court in the premises
shall affect or diminish the acquired right of inheritance
on the part of the child, to the extent of such right
in a child of natural birth. [Se.]
Any home for the friendless incorporated
under the laws of this state, shall have authority
to receive, control and dispose of minor children,
under the following provisions. In case of the
death or legal incapacity of the father, or in case
of his abandoning or neglecting to provide for his
children, the mother shall be considered their legal
guardian for the purpose of making surrender of them
to the charge and custody of such corporation; and
in all cases where the person or persons legally authorized
to act as the guardian or guardians of any child are
not known, the mayor of the town or city where such
home is located, may, in his discretion, surrender
such child to said home. [Se.]
In case it shall be shown to any judge
of a court of record, or to the mayor, or to any justice
of the peace, within such city or town, that the father
of any child is dead, or has abandoned his family,
or is an habitual drunkard, or imprisoned for crime,
and the mother of such child is an habitual drunkard
or is in prison for crime, or the inmate of a house
of ill-fame, or is dead or has abandoned her family,
or that the parents of any child have abandoned or
neglected to provide for it, then such judge, mayor,
or justice of the peace may, if he thinks the welfare
of the child requires it, surrender such child to said
home. [Se]
When a child has been surrendered
to any home for the friendless according to the provisions
of these sections, such home becomes the legal guardian
of such child, and may exercise the rights and authority
of parents over such children and may apprentice or
provide for the adoption of the same. [Se.]