There are different types of adoptions, such as step-parent adoption, relative adoptions, and non-relative adoptions. Once a final order of adoption has been ruled by a court of law, the adoptive parents gain the same rights and responsibilities as parents whose children are born to them; subsequently, an adopted child gains the same rights as birth children in regard to inheritance, child support and other legal matters. In most U.S. jurisdictions, at the time the adoption is finalized, the adopted child's name is legally changed and the court orders the issuance of a new, amended birth certificate.
