On Feb. 26, 2024, a meeting was held between the Bulgarian accredited organizations, the Vice-Minister of Justice and the heads of the Social and Law Divisions in the Directorate for Intercountry Adoptions. A discussion was held about the amendments in the Family Code and the new requirements applicable to the cases of intercountry adoptions. The most important of these are:
- Age difference between PAPs and Adoptees: The adopter must be at least 15 but not more than 50 years older than the adoptee. When the adoption is carried out by spouses and for one of them the age difference is present, no such difference is required for the other spouse. This rule is effective as of the day the amendments in the Family Code got published - Dec.22, 2023. It will be calculated exact to the day, no exceptions will be allowed and it will apply to all cases without effective court decree as of that date.
- Increased post-adoption monitoring period - it becomes 3 years and 6 reports will be due at every six months as of the day the court decree permitting the adoption has become final. The new period applies to all cases where the court decree has entered into legal force on/after December 22, 2023.