Stepparent Adoption - Florida & Louisiana

by Tonya from Louisiana

Stepparent Adoption - Florida & Louisiana:
My husband wants to adopt my child and biological dad wants to give up his parental rights. Dad lives in Florida and we have a child support & paternity case there.

We live in Louisiana. Can we file for a step parent adoption in Florida if we live in Louisiana since we already have a support case open there?

Answer to Florida Court Forms Question

Dear Tonya,

I located a helpful resource for you that addresses step-parent adoption across state lines. It appears that both states need to approve the adoption procedure.

Louisiana and Florida seem to have similar laws in place for step-parent adoption, such as no need for a home study or a background check. But please verify that under Louisiana law.

For more information, go to the Child Welfare Information Gateway website.

This is a slightly complicated jurisdictional question and requires some research. For example, as a separate scenario, if you were to petition the court to modify child support, then Florida would retain jurisdiction because the noncustodial father continues to reside in Florida.

If he were to consent to transferring jurisdiction to Louisiana for that modification, then that transfer would be proper under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA).

It may be that obtaining the biological father's consent to step-parent adoption and termination of parental rights; and then petitioning a Texas court for adoption because Louisiana is where the child resides is the best path. Here is a link to the US HHS website.

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