Florida Adult Adoption

An adult adoption is a court proceeding that creates a legal parent-child relationship between two adults. The adoptee must be 18 or older. The judgment gives the adoptee the full legal status of a child of the adoptive parent, including inheritance rights, next-of-kin standing, and the right to share a last name.

Adopting an adult is simpler than adopting a minor. Adult adoptions do not require a home study, background check, or waiting period. The biological parents cannot block the adoption.

How Does Adult Adoption Work?

An adult adoption starts with a petition filed in circuit court by the person who wants to become the legal parent. The adult being adopted consents in writing. The biological parents receive notice of the hearing. After a hearing that usually lasts a few minutes, the judge enters a Final Judgment of Adult Adoption.

An adult adoption in Florida has the same legal force as adopting a minor. Florida law treats an adopted person the same whether the adoption happened at age 5 or age 50. Section 63.172 gives the adoptee the same relationship to the adoptive parent, and to the parent’s relatives, that a child born to that parent would have. The Florida Probate Code carries the same rule into inheritance.

The adoption terminates the legal relationship between the adoptee and their biological parents, except a biological parent who joins the petition or is married to the petitioner; that parent keeps full parental status. In the typical stepparent scenario, the adoptee ends up with two legal parents after the judgment: the biological parent and the adopting stepparent. For everyone else in the former family tree, the adoptee becomes a legal stranger for most purposes.

Advantages of Adult Adoption

Adult adoption has four main advantages: no consent from the biological parents, inheritance rights, next-of-kin standing, and legal recognition of a foster or kinship parent.

1. No Consent From the Biological Parents

Florida law recognizes several forms of adoption, and adult adoption is the only one that never requires a biological parent’s consent.

Adult adoption in Florida most often formalizes a parent-child relationship that already exists. The typical petitioner is a stepparent who raised a stepchild but never completed a stepparent adoption while the child was a minor. Once the child turns 18, an adult adoption makes the relationship legally permanent.

A stepparent adoption of a minor requires the consent of the biological parent whose rights would end, or legal grounds to waive that consent, such as abandonment. When that parent refuses to sign but has not clearly abandoned the child, many families wait, because at 18 the consent requirement falls away and the adoption can proceed over the parent’s objection. The judgment also ends the legal relationship with an absent or harmful biological parent.

2. Inheritance Rights

The adoptee becomes a legal heir with the same standing as a biological child, which can simplify estate planning and avoid will contests. The Florida Probate Code treats the adoptee as a descendant of the adopting parent and natural kindred of the entire adoptive family.

3. Next-of-Kin Standing

The adoptive parent gains authority for hospital visitation and medical decision-making in emergencies. A caregiver who raised a disabled adult can adopt and become that person’s legal parent and permanent next of kin.

4. Recognition of a Foster or Kinship Parent

A foster parent or kinship caregiver who raised the adoptee can formalize the relationship they already have. The adoptee can take the adoptive parent’s last name as part of the proceeding. An adult who aged out of foster care can be adopted at any age; there is no deadline after 18.

Disadvantages of Adult Adoption

The main disadvantages of an adult adoption are inheritance disputes in blended families, the loss of legal ties to the biological family, and permanence.

1. Inheritance Disputes in Blended Families

In a blended family, the adoptee’s inheritance rights can create disputes over the estate if the adoptive parent’s will or trust does not account for the adoption. Siblings and other relatives who see their expected inheritance shrink may treat the adoption as a threat.

2. Loss of Biological Family Rights

The adoption severs the adoptee’s legal ties to their biological family, including the right to inherit from biological relatives. The stepparent case is different. The adoptee keeps every inheritance tie to the biological parent married to the stepparent and to that parent’s family. If a parent has died and a stepparent or close relative (a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or sibling) later adopts, the adoptee still inherits from and through the deceased parent.

3. Permanence

The adoption is effectively irreversible. Florida law bars challenges to an adoption judgment after one year, and courts apply that deadline strictly.

Requirements

Florida law imposes few restrictions on adult adoption. There are five requirements to file an adult adoption in Florida:

• An adult adoptee. The person being adopted must be 18 or older.
• An eligible petitioner. Any adult can adopt another adult other than their own spouse, regardless of age. There is no required age difference between the petitioner and the adoptee. The petitioner can be single or married, and married couples may petition jointly. LGBTQ+ couples and stepparents can adopt through this process.
• The adoptee’s written consent. Florida law requires a written consent signed by the adult, so an adult who lacks the mental capacity to understand and sign it cannot be adopted through this process. For those families, a guardianship provides the legal decision-making authority that adoption cannot.
• Spousal consents. If the adoptee is married, the adoptee’s spouse must consent as well. Section 63.062(8) requires the adoptee’s consent and the spouse’s consent, plus notice to the adoptee’s existing parents, before a court can grant an adult adoption. If the petitioner is married, the petitioner’s spouse must join the petition or consent to it. A judge can excuse either spouse’s consent for good cause.
• Notice to the biological parents. The biological parents do not need to consent. They must be notified of the hearing, but they cannot prevent the adoption.

Either the petitioner or the adult adoptee must be a Florida resident. However, there is no minimum time period to have lived in Florida to file for an adult adoption. The petition is filed in the circuit court in the county where the petitioner or the adoptee lives, or where the adoption attorney’s office is located. That venue rule lets a petitioner anywhere in Florida complete the adoption through an attorney based elsewhere.

How to Adopt an Adult in Florida

Adult adoption in Florida follows five steps:

1. File the petition. The petitioner files a petition for adult adoption in the circuit court, along with the adoptee’s written consent and any required spousal consents. Florida law requires the petition to state the adoptee’s date and place of birth, the name the adoptee will take, and the reason the petitioner wishes to adopt. It must also state the petitioner’s name, age, and residence.
2. Pay the filing fee. The county clerk charges $400 to $450 to open the adoption case, depending on the county.
3. Schedule the hearing. The clerk assigns the case to a judge. The attorney coordinates with the judge’s office to schedule a final hearing date.
4. Serve notice on biological parents. Florida law requires that the adoptee’s existing legal parents receive formal notice of the hearing. Notice must be delivered by a sheriff’s deputy or private process server. If the biological parents cannot be located, the court may allow constructive service by publishing a notice in a court-approved newspaper.
5. Attend the final hearing. Most judges conduct the hearing virtually. The hearing typically lasts five to ten minutes. The judge confirms that both parties understand the legal consequences of the adoption and that all procedural requirements have been met. Some judges ask the parties to bring photo identification, Social Security cards, and the petitioners’ marriage license. The judge then enters a Final Judgment of Adult Adoption.

Serving notice is the step that most often extends the timeline. When a biological parent has moved without a forwarding address, the diligent search and newspaper publication can add four to six weeks to an otherwise routine case.

After the final judgment is entered, the attorney submits paperwork to the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics to obtain an amended birth certificate listing the petitioner as the parent. If the adoptee’s name was changed as part of the adoption, the new birth certificate reflects the name change. The original birth certificate is sealed.

Can You Do an Adult Adoption in Florida Without a Lawyer?

Florida law does not require an attorney for an adult adoption, and filing without one saves the legal fee. But the court system supplies almost no forms for adult adoption. The judge cannot enter a judgment until every consent and notice requirement in Chapter 63 has been met.

The Florida Supreme Court has approved one standard petition form for adult adoption: Family Law Form 12.981(c)(1), which covers only a stepparent adopting an adult stepchild. No other adult adoption has an approved form, so the petition must be drafted from scratch. Some circuits publish case checklists. Child-advocacy groups distribute free blank petition packets aimed at adults who aged out of foster care.

For the adult adoptions that the form does not cover, we publish a verified petition drafted to the Chapter 63 pleading requirements and a matching consent for the adult being adopted.

The families who come to us after starting the process on their own usually stall at the notice step. A petitioner obtains the adoptee’s consent, files the petition, and then learns at the hearing that the biological parents were never formally served, which sends the case back for service before a judgment can be entered.

How Much Does It Cost to Adopt an Adult in Florida?

An adult adoption in Florida typically costs $3,500 to $4,500, charged as a flat fee. The fee generally covers the attorney’s work, court filing costs, and the birth certificate amendment. The process takes approximately two to three months from filing to final hearing.

There is no adoption tax credit for a typical adult adoption. The federal credit reaches only an adoptee under 18 or one physically or mentally incapable of self-care, so adopting a disabled adult may qualify; adopting a spouse’s child never does.

Can an Adult Adoption Be Challenged or Reversed?

Section 63.182 bars any attack on an adoption judgment, on any ground, once a year has passed from entry of the judgment terminating parental rights. But an adult adoption produces no separate judgment terminating parental rights. No Florida appellate court has decided how the one-year period runs for an adult adoption.

The section is a statute of repose, so once the year runs it extinguishes the claim itself no matter why the challenger waited. Florida appellate courts have refused to extend it even when the challenger alleges fraud. A judgment entered without notice to someone entitled to it is void. That is the ground a challenger uses inside the year. An adoption concealed from the people whose shares it reduces can be set aside as a fraud on the court.

The statute also limits who can challenge an adult adoption. A challenger must show a direct, financial, and immediate interest in the judgment. Disapproval of the adoption, or a remote chance of inheriting someday, is not enough to give a relative standing.