Home/Family Law/Adoption
Complex Divorce & Family Law
Stepparent, relative, and adult adoptions handled with care and precision.
Adoption permanently establishes a parent-child relationship in the eyes of the law, with all the rights and responsibilities that come with it. Florida adoptions are governed by Chapter 63. Most of the adoptions we handle are within families:
The central legal step is usually the consent or termination of the existing parent's rights. In a stepparent adoption, the other biological parent generally must consent, or the court must terminate that parent's rights — for example on the basis of abandonment. Handling this correctly is what makes the adoption secure and final.
The stepparent petitions to adopt; the other biological parent either consents or has their parental rights terminated. Once finalized, the stepparent becomes the child's legal parent.
Usually yes — or a court order terminating that parent's rights, such as for abandonment. This is the key issue in most stepparent adoptions.
No. A formal home study is frequently waived in stepparent and close-relative adoptions, though the court can still require one.
Yes. Florida permits adult adoption, which is often used to formalize a long-standing parent-child relationship or for inheritance and family reasons.