MEMORANDUM OF LAW

Facts:

Client is physically and financially unable to care for his children.  He would like to pursue terminating his parental rights and having his Former Wife’s new husband adopt the children so that he will not be liable for child support through the Department of Revenue.

Issue:    What needs to be done to terminate parental rights so a stepparent can adopt minor children?

A parent or legal guardian can directly place a child up for adoption by the child’s stepparent.  Stepparent adoptions have slightly different procedural requirements than regular adoptions.  A stepparent adoption does not require that parental rights be terminated pending adoption.  The Final Judgment of Adoption terminates the parental rights while simultaneously granting the adoption.  Fla. Stat. 63.102(6).  Further differences are there is no requirement for a preliminary home investigation report and no required waiting period before a hearing can be held.  Also, the adoption does not need to be reported to the Department of Children and Family Services.

In order for a stepparent to adopt a child, the father must file a valid consent with the court.  Fla. Stat. 63.122(1).  The consent must be an affidavit acknowledged by a notary public and witnessed by two witnesses.  Fla. Stat. 63.802.  The notary public cannot serve as a witness.  Id.  There must be a statement that the consent was voluntarily executed, and the adopting parent should be identified.  Id. If the adopting parent is not identified, there must be a statement that the consent was voluntarily executed and the adopting parent did not need to be identified for the consent.  Id.  The notary must note the date and time of execution of the consent.  Further, the consent must be written in at least twelve point typeface.  Id.

To move forward with a stepfather adopting our client’s children, we need to execute a valid consent and file it with the court.  The father does not need to be present at the adoption proceedings after the consent is filed.