58.—(1) In this Chapter—

F415[‘adopting parent’ means—

(a) a qualifying adopter, or

(b) a surviving parent;]

“certificate of placement” has the meaning given to it by section 13 of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995;

“day of placement” has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995;

F416[…]

F417[‘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;]

[1997 s11(1)]

(2) Subject to this Act, an adopting parent shall be entitled to adoptive benefit where—

(a) (i) in the case of an employed contributor, it is certified by the adopting parent's employer that the adopting parent is entitled to adoptive leave under the Adoptive Leave Act 1995, or

(ii) in the case of a person in insurable self-employment, a certificate of placement is issued to the adopting parent,

and

(b) the adopting parent satisfies the contribution conditions in section 59.

[1997 s11(1)]

(3) Regulations may provide for entitling to adoptive benefit, subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that may be prescribed, the class or classes of adopting parents who would be entitled to that benefit but for the fact that the contribution conditions in section 59 are not satisfied.

[1997 s11(1); 2004 (MP) s9]

(4) Subject to this Chapter, adoptive benefit shall be payable—

F418[(a) in the case of an employed contributor—

(i) for the period of adoptive leave to which the adopting parent is entitled under section 6 of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995, or

(ii) for the period of adoptive leave to which the adopting parent is entitled under section 9 of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 or for 6 weeks, whichever is the longer period of time, and the provisions of section 59 shall not apply,]

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

(i) F419[a qualifying adopter within the meaning of paragraph (b) of that definition], for F420[24] consecutive weeks beginning on the day of placement, or

F421[(ii) F422[a surviving parent within the meaning of paragraph (b) of that definition]—

(I) before the day of placement, for 24 consecutive weeks beginning on the day of placement, or

(II) on or after the day of placement, for a period of 24 weeks less a period equivalent to the period beginning on the day of placement and ending on the F423[date of death of the qualifying adopter] or for 6 weeks, whichever is the longer period of time, and the provisions of section 59 shall not apply,]

but where the beneficiary dies, the benefit shall not be payable for any subsequent day.

[1997 s11(1); 2001 s37 & Sch F]

(5) For the purposes of this section, a Sunday shall not in any week be treated as a day of entitlement to adoptive benefit and, accordingly, the amount payable by way of that benefit for any other day of a week shall be one-sixth of the appropriate weekly rate, subject to the total amount being paid at any time by virtue of this subsection being rounded up to the nearest 10 cent where it is a multiple of 5 cent but not also a multiple of 10 cent, and being rounded to the nearest 10 cent where it is not a multiple of 5 cent or 10 cent.

[1997 s11(1)]

(6) In the case of an employed contributor, where the employment ceases (whether due to the death of the employer or otherwise) during the period for which adoptive benefit is payable in accordance with subsection (4), the beneficiary shall continue to be treated as if the event which caused the cesser of employment had not occurred.

[1997 s11(1)]

(7) Regulations may provide for requiring an employer or any other person to furnish any information that may be required for the purposes of determining a claim for adoptive benefit.

F424[(8) Regulations may provide for the postponement of the payment of adoptive benefit in the event of the hospitalisation of the child in respect of whose adoption the person is entitled to that benefit, subject to the conditions and in the circumstances that may be prescribed.]