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I have a friend who was approached a few months ago by an emom who wanted to place her daughter with my friend. Well, then the emom changed her mind. My friend got a call the other day and now emom wants to place her child with my friend again. I tried to tell her that emom cannot just sign over her rights, but my cousin disagrees. She told me she talked to a lawyer and the lawyer said she could. It is my understanding that only relatives can sign over children without homestudy/court approval. This would be a private adoption. She would have a hard time passing a homestudy due to income/insurance issues. She has recently moved back home with her Mom and siblings and the situation is not ideal. I just don't want her to wait all these months (October) and be heartbroken in the end. Does anyone have a website dealing with Private Florida adoption and the laws/requirements? Thanks!
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My understanding is that no adoption can take place without a homestudy, not even a relative adoption. I'm not a lawyer but I did adopt from FL. You might direct her to some books like the Idiot's Guide to Adoption. Could it be that your friend is needlesly pessimistic about the homestudy?
Georgia is a state that does not require a home study...you can do a private adoption and basically sign over your rights with no home study required. Agencies in Georgia of course will require a home study, but if you find someone who wants you to adopt, then no home study is required. Again...I don't know FL law, but I would assume a FL adoption attorney would know!!
You can research adoption laws at childwelfare site.The Child Welfare Information Gateway has a lot of information. Like previous posters - I am not aware of any adoption that can be done without going through official channels including termination of parental rights through the courts, home study approval, and finalization in court as well. Parents can give powers of attorney or delgation of parental rights for limited periods of time, but they cannot just tell someone else to raise their child and think that any parental rights and obligations would transfer. It just doesn't work that way whether between friends, family, or strangers. Your friend may want to call a Florida attorney off the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys list just as an informal/informational call to get better information, and as you said so her heart does not get broken in October.Rhonda
Last update on November 10, 10:26 am by Sachin Gupta.
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Thnks for all the replies. I honestly don't even know if she's actually seen a lawyer her words were "I called a lawyer" but I don't know any more details. I was just wanting to ask bc when I researched this the first time, I found that only relatives could do an adoption without a homestudy but still have to go through the court system. Apparently, the father is not in the picture and doesn't know about the baby (the last I heard). Thanks for all the advice thus far. :)