Understanding Adoption

What Is Adoption?

Adoption is a legal procedure by which a child who was born to one set of parents becomes the legal child of a new parent or parents. The new parents assume full rights and responsibilities for the child, and the biological parent or parents no longer have any rights and responsibilities toward the child.

Adoption of a child, much like the decision to conceive a child, is perhaps the single most important decision a person will ever make. Children look to their parents for guidance, support and love. Children depend upon their parents for moral guidance, self-esteem, and a host of other developmental necessities. These are important roles that the adoptive parent will play in the child’s life, and while there is a natural assumption of these duties in a biological parent, making a decision to do this for “another person’s” children is special.

Ask any adoptive parent, and they will tell you that when you open your heart to adopt a child, you will be rewarded many, many times.

Why Do We Have an Adoption Statute?

The adoption statute was created to achieve balance between a number of different interests. Among those interests are:

1. The state has a compelling interest in providing stable and permanent homes for adoptive children in a prompt manner, in preventing the disruption of adoptive placements, and in holding parents accountable for meeting the needs of children;
2. An unmarried mother faced with the responsibility of making crucial decisions about the future of a newborn child is entitled to privacy, has the right to make timely and appropriate decisions regarding her future and the future of her child, and is entitled to assurance regarding an adoptive placement;
3. An unmarried biological father has an interest that acquires constitutional protection when he demonstrates a timely and full commitment to the responsibilities of parenthood;
4. Adoptive children have the right to permanence and stability in adoptive placements, and when there are sibling groups to be adopted they have a right to be maintained as a group;
5. Adoptive parents have a constitutional privacy interest in retaining custody of a legally adopted child.

All of these often competing interests are addressed in the adoption statute. The best interests of the child is of paramount concern to the law. The court is charged with the duty of making findings in furtherance of the child’s best interests.

Who May Be Adopted?

Any person in the state of Florida, a minor or adult, may be adopted.

Who May Adopt?

A husband and wife may jointly adopt a child in Florida, as can a single, unmarried adult. A married person may adopt without their spouse joining if the person to be adopted is not their spouse and if a) the other spouse is a parent of the person to be adopted and consents to the adoption, or b) the failure of the other spouse to join in the petition or consent to the adoption is excused by the court for good cause shown or in the best interest of the child.

Who May Not Adopt?

In the State of Florida homosexuals may not adopt a child. HOWEVER, a serious opposition to the current law on this subject is working its way through the Florida courts. The case is currently being decided by the Third District Court of Appeal, and it seems destined to eventually be considered by the Florida Supreme Court. Many view this latest attack on the constitutionality of the ban on homosexual adoption as likely to succeed.

Finding a Child To Adopt

A child may be placed for adoption by an “adoption entity”, which includes the Department of Children and Families (DCF), a child-caring agency registered by the state, an intermediary, or a child-placing agency licensed in another state and which is qualified by DCF to place children in Florida. An intermediary is an attorney licensed or authorized to practice in Florida.

Starting Legal Proceedings

There is a two step process for adopting a child in Florida. The first step involves making the child available for adoption through terminating the rights of the present parent. This step is not necessary if the adoptee is otherwise available for adoption, as with children who have been abandoned or whose parents have had their rights involuntarily terminated, or whose parents have died. The second step is the petition for adoption, which cannot begin until after the entry of a judgment terminating parental rights pending adoption, unless the adoptee is an adult, the petitioner is a stepparent or a relative, or the parental rights have been terminated as a result of an involuntary legal action.

A favorable preliminary home study as to the suitability of the home in which a minor has been placed must be filed with the court along with the petition for adoption. The home study may be conducted by DCF, a licensed child-placing agency, or a professional licensed by the state to perform such home studies. This requirement is waived for a stepparent adoption, an adult adoption, or when the minor is a relative of one of the adoptive parents.

Consent To The Adoption

Absent special circumstances enumerated by statute, consent to the adoption must be obtained after the birth of the child from:

1. The Mother of the child;
2. The Father of the child IF
   1. child was conceived or born while the father was married to the mother; OR
   2. The minor is his child by adoption; OR
   3. The child was established through court proceedings to be his child; OR
   4. The father has filed an affidavit of paternity pursuant to statute; OR
   5. In the case of an unmarried biological father, he has acknowledged I writing that he is the father of the child, has filed the acknowledgement with the Office of Vital Statitstics within the required timeframes, and has complied with the following:
      1. If the child is placed with adoptive parents more than 6 months after the child’s birth, an unmarried biological father must have developed a substantial relationship with the child, taken some measure of responsibility for the child and the child’s future, and demonstrated a full commitment to the responsibilities of parenthood by providing financial support consistent with his ability (if not prevented from doing so), and either:
         1. Regularly visited the child at least monthly when physically and financially able to do so and when not prevented from doing so;
         2. Maintained regular communication with the child or the person having care and custody of the child, when physically or financially unable to visit the child or when not prevented from doing so;

      2. If the child is less than 6 months old at the time of placement with the adoptive parents, an unmarried biological father must have demonstrated a full commitment to his parental responsibility by having performed all of the following acts prior to the time the mother executes her consent for adoption:
         1. Filed a notarized claim of paternity with the Florida Putative Father Registry;
         2. Upon service of a notice of an intended adoption plan or a petition for termination of parental rights pending adoption, executed and filed an affidavit in that proceeding stating that he is personally fully able and willing to take responsibility for the child, setting forth his plans for the care of the child, and agreeing to a court order of child support and a contribution to the living and medical expenses incurred for the mother’s pregnancy and the child’s birth;
         3. If he had knowledge of the pregnancy, paid a fair and reasonable amount of the expenses in connection with the mother’s pregnancy and the child’s birth when not prevented from doing so.
3. The minor if 12 years of age or older;
4. Any person lawfully entitled to custody of the child
5. The court, if the person having custody does not have the authority to consent to the adoption.
6. If a parent of the child cannot be located to give his or her consent, a good faith effort to locate must be undertaken. The effort to locate must follow certain guidelines, which in recent years have been beefed up to prevent fraud. The diligent search required by the statute is critical if the integrity of the adoption is to be maintained.

Cost of Adoption

Our office currently charges only $499 for legal services related to an uncontested stepparent or grandparent adoption. If consent is required from a person who is not easily located, or the adoption is contested, there will be additional costs charged as incurred. There is a filing fee charged by the court, as well as fees charged by the Department of Vital Statistics, which are in addition to the fee charged by our office for legal services.

Our office also will function as an intermediary, placing children for adoption in both contested and uncontested private adoptions. The cost for basic legal services in a private adoption is $6,500.00, and there are additional costs that will be discussed with the clients at the time the office is hired for this service.

Adoptions Are Confidential

Adoption files are kept confidential by the Clerk of Courts. Once the Judge signs the Final Judgment for Adoption, the adoption file is complete. The Clerk will make copies of the Final Judgment to provide to the adoptive parents and to send with the request for a new birth certificate. The file will then be sealed from public scrutiny. To reopen a closed adoption file requires a special hearing and can be very difficult.

Rights of the Biological Parent(s) Once the Child Is Adopted

All rights and responsibilities of the natural or biological parent(s) are severed by the adoption. There is no further responsibility to pay ongoing child support and no right to visit with the child, unless the adoptive parents have agreed to an “open adoption.” In an “open adoption”, the adopting parents agree to some limited contacted between the child and the natural parents, such as an annual visit and occasional letters and cards.

If there are previously existing child support arrears, then they are not terminated by the adoption. The parent that owes past due support continues to owe it until it is paid in full.

Rights of the Adoptive Parent(s) Once the Child Is Adopted

The adoptive parent becomes the legal parent of the child after an adoption. The child can legally inherit from the adoptive parent just the same as any other children born to the adoptive parent. The child is entitled to be supported by the adoptive parent. This remains true even if the adoptive parent divorces the other adoptive (or biological) parent of the child later on. It is the adoptive parent's legal responsibility to provide for the mental, spiritual, moral and financial well-being of the child in the future.

Financial Benefits of Adoption

Many individuals are aware of many of the financial benefits of adoption, including the possibility of taking a dependency exemption for the child, and obtaining a credit for child care expenses incurred on the adoptive parents federal income tax return. However, other financial benefits for adopting parents exist, such as an adoption credit for the adoptive parents’ income tax return, and, if the child has been adopted through the Department of Children and Families, four years of free college tuition at Florida state colleges and universities.

How is The Child Affected By Adoption?

Citizenship of the child is not affected by adoption. For example if a Mexican child is adopted by a Florida family, the child does not automatically become a citizen of the United States. Naturalization of the child into a United States citizen is possible, though.

The child's name may be changed as a result of the adoption. The child will be able to use his or her new name as soon as the Judge signs the Final Judgment. The new birth certificate will reflect the adoptive parent's name. The birth certificate and the Final Judgment should be kept in a safe place with your other important papers.