How Do I Adopt My Grandchild in Florida?
At a Glance
Are you wondering, “How do I adopt my grandchild?” This blog post discusses how you can adopt your grandchild in Florida through an uncontested Chapter 63 close relative adoption when the child’s parents consent, or when there is no active objection to the adoption moving forward.
- Florida treats grandparent adoptions as “close relative adoptions,” with a faster, less invasive process than a typical agency adoption.
- Consent from both parents, or a legal exception or substitute for consent, is generally required before an adoption can move forward smoothly.
- Adopting a grandchild as a close relative can preserve the child’s inheritance rights from a deceased parent’s family under Florida law.
- If a parent actively objects, that becomes a contested court proceeding, which is a different type of case than the ones we handle.
You already know what it means to step in for your grandchild. Maybe you have been the one packing lunches, driving to school in Tampa or St. Petersburg, and sitting up at night when they are sick. What you want now is simple: the legal certainty that matches the role you already play, without turning your family’s private situation into a courtroom fight.
What Counts as a Close Relative Adoption in Florida?
Under Florida law, grandparents fall into a category called “close relative adoption,” which also includes siblings, aunts, and uncles (or, as stated by Florida Statute 63.032(16), “a person related by blood to the person being adopted within the third degree of consanguinity”). This matters because Florida Statute section 63.172 gives close relative adoptions a meaningful benefit: if a parent has died, the adoption does not automatically cut off the child’s inheritance rights from that deceased parent’s family, unless a court orders otherwise.
This is different from a stranger adoption, where the law treats the adopted child as though the old family relationships never existed. A grandparent stepping in to raise a grandchild in Sarasota or anywhere else in Florida is not asking the law to erase the child’s history. The law recognizes that and treats the relationship differently.
Whose Consent Do You Need?
In most close relative adoptions, both of your grandchild’s parents need to consent, or a legal substitute or waiver for consent needs to apply, such as a parent who has already had their rights terminated in an earlier case, a parent who has abandoned a child, or a parent who has passed away.
We also help clients through a related situation: a parent who does not affirmatively consent, but who is properly served with the adoption petition and simply does not respond. Similarly, when one parent cannot be located at all, Florida law allows for a diligent search to try to find them. If that search does not turn up a current address, the parent can be constructively served through a legal notice published in a newspaper, run for a set number of weeks, which takes the place of personal service. If that parent still does not respond, or is served directly and chooses not to respond, the court can enter a default. This is different from a contested hearing. The parent had notice and an opportunity to object, and chose not to.
The smoothest path to adopting your grandchild almost always starts with a conversation, or at least a clear absence of objection, rather than a courtroom fight. Many of our clients in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota reach this point after years of informal caregiving, and formalizing it becomes a matter of paperwork and one quiet court hearing rather than a dispute.
One more point worth knowing if privacy is a priority for your family: Florida adoption records are confidential by law. Under Florida Statute section 63.162 and Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420, adoption files are automatically protected from public access, unlike almost every other type of civil case in Florida. Your grandchild’s adoption does not become a searchable public record the way a typical lawsuit would.
What If a Parent Objects?
If a parent actively objects and will not consent, Florida law does allow a court to terminate that parent’s rights, but only through a contested, adversarial proceeding.
Family Diplomacy is built around private, respectful resolutions. We do not represent clients in contested hearings where a parent’s rights would be terminated over that parent’s active objection. If your situation involves an unwilling, objecting parent, we can point you toward attorneys who focus on that kind of litigation, but it is not the work we do.
Why a Private, Consent-Based Adoption Often Serves Families Like Yours
If your grandchild’s adoption can move forward with consent, or with no one contesting it, the process tends to be brief, quiet, and final. In fact, Florida law provides for expedited procedures for close relative adoptions, generally waiving the requirement of an intrusive home study and consolidating two hearings into one. That combination matters if you are a physician managing a practice in Tampa, an executive who cannot afford a public distraction, or simply a grandparent who wants your grandchild to feel settled into his or her forever home.
Attorney Adam B. Cordover has spent his career helping Florida families restructure privately and respectfully, including in the Family Diplomacy adoption practice, where close relative adoptions are a regular part of the work. He also co-authored Building a Successful Collaborative Family Law Practice through the American Bar Association, reflecting a broader approach to family law that favors resolution over confrontation wherever it is genuinely possible.
That same philosophy shapes how we handle grandparent adoptions. We are not trying to win against a parent. We are trying to help you formalize a role you likely already fill, in a way that holds up legally and stays out of public view.
No two families arrive at this decision the same way, and no attorney can guarantee a particular outcome or timeline in any adoption case. What we can offer is an honest assessment of where your situation stands and whether a private, consent-based path is realistically available to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a home study to adopt my grandchild in Florida?
Courts generally waive the home study requirement in close relative adoptions.
Will my grandchild still be able to inherit from their parent’s side of the family?
Under Florida Statute 63.172, if a parent has died, a close relative adoption generally does not cut off the child’s inheritance rights from that deceased parent’s family, unless a court orders otherwise.
What if one parent consents but I cannot locate the other parent?
This is common. Florida law allows for a diligent search to try to find the missing parent. If that search does not turn up a current address, the parent can be constructively served through a legal notice published in a newspaper, run for a set number of weeks. This takes the place of personal service. If the parent still does not respond after publication, the case can often proceed by default rather than through a contested hearing.
Is the adoption hearing open to the public?
No. Adoption records are confidential under Florida Statute 63.162, and adoption hearings are handled with a level of privacy that most civil court proceedings do not have.
What if my grandchild’s parent actively refuses to consent?
That becomes a contested legal matter requiring the court to terminate that parent’s rights. Family Diplomacy does not handle contested hearings of that kind, but we can help point you toward attorneys who do.
Take the Next Step Privately
If you are ready to explore adopting your grandchild, or you simply want to understand whether your family’s situation fits a private, consent-based path, we invite you to schedule a private virtual planning meeting with our team. We will walk through your situation candidly, including whether this is a case we are positioned to help with directly. Give us a call at (813) 443-0615, or you can contact us or schedule an appointment directly by clicking the button below.
When discretion matters, count on us.
