Terms Used In Florida Statutes 63.122

  • Adoption: means the act of creating the legal relationship between parent and child where it did not exist, thereby declaring the child to be legally the child of the adoptive parents and their heir at law and entitled to all the rights and privileges and subject to all the obligations of a child born to such adoptive parents in lawful wedlock. See Florida Statutes 63.032
  • Adoption entity: means the department, a child-caring agency registered under…. See Florida Statutes 63.032
  • Adult: means a person who is not a minor. See Florida Statutes 63.032
  • Court: means a circuit court of this state and, if the context requires, the court of any state that is empowered to grant petitions for adoption. See Florida Statutes 63.032
  • minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
  • Parent: means a woman who gives birth to a child and who is not a gestational surrogate as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 63.032
  • Person: includes a natural person, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, or association, and any other legal entity. See Florida Statutes 63.032
  • Relative: means a person related by blood to the person being adopted within the third degree of consanguinity. See Florida Statutes 63.032
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.

(1) The hearing on the petition to adopt a minor may not be held sooner than 30 days after the date the judgment terminating parental rights was entered or sooner than 90 days after the date the minor was placed in the physical custody of the petitioner, unless good cause is shown for a shortening of these time periods. The minor must remain under the supervision of the adoption entity until the adoption becomes final. When the adoptee is an adult, the hearing may be held immediately after the filing of the petition. If the petitioner is a stepparent or a relative of the adoptee, the hearing may be held immediately after the filing of the petition if all persons whose consent is required have executed a valid consent and the consent has been filed with the court.
(2) Notice of hearing must be given as prescribed by the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, and service of process must be made as specified by law for civil actions.
(3) Upon a showing by the petitioner or parent that the privacy, safety, or welfare of the petitioner, parent, or minor may be endangered, the court may order that the names of the petitioner, parent, minor, or all be deleted from the notice of hearing and from the copy of the petition attached thereto if the substantive rights of any person are not affected.
(4) Notice of the hearing must be given by the petitioner to the adoption entity that places the minor.
(5) After filing the petition to adopt an adult, the court may order an appropriate investigation to assist in determining whether the adoption is in the best interest of the persons involved and is in accordance with state law.