Florida Adult Adoption Consents Required

by Betty from Lakeland, Florida, Polk County

My husband wishes to adopt my 41 year old daughter. She has signed consent, he has signed the petition, her husband has signed consent.

Her birth father passed in July of this year (2009) after having no contact since she was 3 years old.

FS 63.062 states that written permission is to be signed by birth parents . Does this mean that me as the birth mother needs to also sign consent?

And if so what is the form number needed? Any other information is greatly appreciated as we are not in the financial position to hire an attorney for this procedure.

Answer to Florida Adoption Question

Dear Betty,

First of all, you are so close already to having your documents in order. You mentioned that your husband has signed the Petition for Adoption of Adult by Stepparent.

Hopefully you had his signature witnessed by a Florida Notary or your courthouse's deputy clerk. If not, just download a new form with the link above and have him sign at the courthouse or use the service of a Notary Public.

You may want to check your bank, most of them provide a notary service for free or at a low cost to account holders. You also mentioned that your daughter, Stepparent Adoption: Consent of Adoptee, and her husband, Stepparent Adoption: Consent of Adult Adoptee's Spouse, have signed their respective consent to adoption.

Now to answer your question. No, you do not need to provide consent but instead, you should have a copy of the Stepparent Adoption form hand delivered to you (your husband will mention this on the form in line 7) and a Notice of Hearing hand delivered to you when this is filed.

Consent of the birth parent is not required, but written notice of the final hearing on the adoption must be provided to the parents, if any, or proof of service of process must be filed showing notice has been served on the parents.

In your case, you must obtain a certified copy of the birth father's death certificate. Your daughter should be able to get this from the Florida Department of Health, and attach this to the Final Judgment of Stepparent Adoption form.

Check with your courthouse self-help center window first to make sure your forms are in order, then file them with the court clerk.

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