Florida is one of many states to allow adults to be adopted by other adults. There are many reasons an adult might choose to adopt another.
Reasons to Pursue an Adult Adoption
Adult adoptions can occur for a variety of emotional and practical reasons. Common scenarios include:
- legally recognizing someone as their child for inheritance, medical, or other legal reasons;
- legally recognizing former foster children who are of legal age as their children; and/or
- legally recognizing stepchildren as their children.
Benefits of Adult Adoption
Perhaps the biggest benefit of this type of adoption is that the law reflects the parent/child relationship of the parties. Other benefits are:
- the adoptee’s ability to inherit property from their parents;
- the adoptee’s access to pension and social security benefits;
- either party’s ability to make emergency medical decisions and/or visit the other in the hospital as a family member;
- either party’s ability to release legal information to the other as a family member;
- the legal confirmation of the parties’ emotional bond; and/or
- the legal ability to drop identifying terms (step, foster, etc.) and refer to each other as child and parent.
How to Adopt an Adult
The adult adoption process is significantly less complex than child adoption. This is mostly because the adoptee is a legal consenting adult and there is no need to terminate the parental rights of biological parents or perform a home study.
To begin the adoption process, the parties must submit a few legal documents to the county clerk’s office. These documents are:
- a petition for adult adoption form;
- a consent for adoption from the adult being adopted;
- if the adult being adopted is married, their spouse must also consent to the adoption; and/or
- the death certificate of biological parents (if applicable).
If the adoptee’s parents still have parental rights, they must receive a copy of the notice of the adoption hearing, so they are aware of the intended adoption. This does not mean the parents can contest the adoption, it is only legally required for them to be aware of the adoption.
Reliable Legal Counsel
While adult adoption is simpler than child adoption, you could still benefit from the counsel of a lawyer who practices this type of law. Our lawyers can simplify the adoption process for you even more and help get your case quickly seen by a judge.
Contact our firm online or call us at (305) 876-6138 for a consultation.
