Many Florida adoptions do not involve infants or children placed with strangers. Instead, they occur within extended families because a child needs someone to play a parental role. A grandparent adopts their grandchild because the actual parent cannot meet the children’s needs. A stepparent adopts their stepchild to protect their rights as a parent.
These scenarios can strengthen families and offer children far more stability. However, adoptions within families are often fraught with intense emotions. Not everyone may agree about the necessity of a family adoption. In some cases, the child might be the party who opposes the adoption proceedings. Is the consent of the child involved necessary for a family-based adoption in Florida?
Adoptions should be in the best interests of the children involved
When a Florida family law judge hears an adoption case, their main concerns are about what is best for the child. They look at factors including the prior experiences of the family, the living circumstances at the adopted home and the history of the adults to determine if the adoption should take place or not.
As with many other custody-related issues, the preferences of the child facing a potential adoption can be one of the factors that judges consider. Unlike other states, where there is a certain age after which a child’s preferences carry weight in court, the judge must evaluate the child’s level of maturity and their age to determine how much weight to grant their preference.
In cases where the child opposes the adoption because of familial conflict or a desire to maintain the relationship they have with their legal parents, that may hold more weight than enthusiasm for adoption because they view the adoptive parent as particularly permissive. While a child’s permission is not inherently necessary to proceed with an adoption within the family, their consent is an important consideration.
The whole family may benefit from talking at length about the situation. A conversation might even lead to the child changing their perspective. Grandparents, stepparents and other family members considering a Florida adoption often need to learn more about the law before proceeding. Prospective adoptive parents need the support of the courts and numerous other parties to become legal parents.