Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 125 > Part III - County Administration

• 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
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Agency: means any child-placing agency licensed by the department pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Child: means any unmarried person under the age of 18 years who has not been emancipated by court order. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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
• Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Intermediary: means an attorney who is licensed or authorized to practice in this state and who is placing or intends to place a child for adoption, including placing children born in another state with citizens of this state or country or placing children born in this state with citizens of another state or country. See Florida Statutes 63.032
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• 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
• Placement: means the process of a parent or legal guardian surrendering a child for adoption and the prospective adoptive parents receiving and adopting the child and all actions by any adoption entity participating in placing the child. 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.
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01