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.
