Adoption

Adoption permanently transfers all legal rights and obligations of parenthood to the adoptive parent. Once the final judgment is entered, the child is your legal child for every purpose — inheritance, benefits, medical consent, everything — as though born to you.

Types of adoption we handle

Step-parent adoption — the most common case we see. A step-parent adopts their spouse's child, usually where the other biological parent consents or their rights have already been terminated. The process is meaningfully simpler than other adoptions; Florida waives the home study requirement in most step-parent cases.

Relative adoption — a grandparent, aunt, uncle or sibling adopting a child within the family, often after a period of informal care.

Non-relative adoption — adoption by someone outside the family, including adult adoption.

Consent and termination

The hinge of every adoption is consent. Florida will not proceed unless the court is satisfied that each biological parent has given an informed, voluntary consent, or that their parental rights have been properly terminated after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Where a biological parent cannot be found, there is a defined process — including the Florida Putative Father Registry — that has to be followed precisely. Skipping a step here is how adoptions get set aside years later.

Best interests of the child

The court's test is not what the birth parents want, or what the adoptive parents want. It is what serves the child. In practice, an adoption that is well documented, properly noticed and clearly in the child's interest is granted at a short and rather joyful final hearing.