How to Adopt Your Grandchild in Florida: Petition, Hearing, and Costs

To adopt your grandchild in Florida, you file a joint petition in the circuit court where the child lives that asks the judge to terminate the biological parents’ rights and grant the adoption in the same case. Chapter 63 of the Florida Statutes governs the process, and it gives relatives real shortcuts: no mandatory home study, one court case instead of two, and a straightforward final hearing when the parents consent.¹

One Petition Instead of Two

A non-relative adoption in Florida is really two lawsuits: one to terminate the biological parents’ rights, and a second, later case for the adoption itself. Grandparents, stepparents, and adult adoptions get an exception. You can file a single joint petition that asks the court to do both at once, with the consents, affidavits, and notices attached.¹ One filing, one hearing, lower cost.

Ending the Biological Parents’ Rights

Nothing else in the case matters until the biological parents’ rights are gone. There are two ways that happens: the parents agree, or a judge overrides them. Which path applies to your family drives everything about timeline, cost, and difficulty.

When a Parent Consents

A willing parent signs a formal consent to adoption in front of a notary and two witnesses. One witness has to be someone the parent chooses who has no connection to the adoption entity or to you. Before signing, the parent has the right to be interviewed by a representative of the adoption entity.²

If your grandchild is older than six months, the parent has three business days after signing to revoke. Once that window closes, the consent stands, and a court will only set it aside on proof of fraud or coercion.²

Both parents generally need to consent or be terminated. The mother’s consent is required; the father’s is required depending on his situation, particularly if he was married to the mother, listed on the birth certificate, or has formally acknowledged paternity.³ If your grandchild is 12 or older, the child also has to consent unless the court waives it in the child’s best interest.

When a Parent Refuses

If a parent won’t sign, you can still move forward, but you have to prove grounds for involuntary termination by clear and convincing evidence. Florida’s statute lists several: abandonment, failure to respond to proper legal notice of the adoption, a finding of permanent incapacity, or unreasonably withholding consent.⁴

Abandonment is the ground grandparents most often rely on. The court looks at whether the parent has kept up contact with the child, provided support when able, or shown a pattern of emotional abuse. Contested cases are where adoptions get expensive and slow. You’ll need documentation: records of the parent’s absence, missed support payments, police reports if abuse is involved, and testimony from people who know the situation. Plan on an attorney for this path.

The Home Study Is Usually Waived

Florida waives the mandatory home study for relatives. Non-relative petitioners have to file a favorable home study with their petition; as a grandparent, you don’t, unless a judge orders one for good cause.⁵⁶ If one is ordered, expect interviews, a walk-through of your home, a look at your finances, and documentation of adoptive-parenting counseling. Home studies for relative adoptions typically run $900 to $4,900.

Background checks are a different question. When a home study happens, it must include a check of the Department of Children and Families abuse registry and a criminal records check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.⁵ Even without a full study, judges routinely order background screening.

What Goes in the Petition

The petition is the document that asks the court to grant the adoption. Florida law sets out what it must include:

The child’s date and place of birth
The new name you want for the child, if any
The date you took custody
Your full name, age, and how long you’ve lived at your current address
Your marital status
A statement that you can meet the child’s financial needs
A description of any property the child owns
Your reasons for wanting to adopt

Attach the signed parental consents, or, if consent is contested, a statement of the grounds for termination and the facts that support them. If your grandchild is 12 or older, include documentation of the interview with the child.⁶ Bring a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate, and your marriage certificate if you’re married.

File with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the child lives. The clerk charges a filing fee that varies by county. If you’re married, both spouses generally have to petition together unless specific circumstances excuse one.⁷

The Final Hearing

Once the paperwork is in and any evaluations are complete, the court sets a final hearing. The judge reviews the petition, the consents or the evidence supporting involuntary termination, background results, and any home study report. If everyone has signed and nothing is contested, the hearing is short. The judge confirms you understand the permanent responsibilities you’re taking on, asks a few questions, and signs the final judgment.

When the judge signs, you’re the child’s legal parents. Within 30 days, the clerk or adoption entity sends a certified statement to the state registrar of vital statistics, and a new birth certificate is issued listing you as the parents.⁸

What Changes Legally

The adoption judgment cuts the legal relationship between the child and the biological parents completely. They lose all parental rights and responsibilities, and the child becomes a legal stranger to them and their extended family for almost every legal purpose, including how wills and trusts are read.⁹ In return, the law treats the child as if born to you. Your grandchild inherits from you and your relatives and qualifies for benefits like health insurance and Social Security the same as a biological child.

Two carve-outs matter specifically for grandparent adoptions. If one or both biological parents died before the adoption (rather than losing rights by court order), the child keeps the right to inherit from or through that deceased parent. And the adoption will not end grandparental visitation rights established under Chapter 752 unless the court orders otherwise, because grandparents count as “close relatives” under that statute.⁹

Legal Authority While You Wait

Adoption takes months. Many grandparents are already raising the child and need legal standing to enroll them in school, consent to medical treatment, or deal with agencies before the adoption is final. Chapter 751 of the Florida Statutes gives you a way to get temporary or concurrent custody in the meantime.¹⁰

You can petition for temporary custody in circuit court if you’re already caring for the child full-time as a substitute parent and the child lives with you. If the biological parents cooperate, they can instead sign a notarized consent giving you concurrent custody, which lets you make day-to-day decisions without displacing their legal authority. If a parent objects, the court can grant temporary custody only after finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that the parent is unfit due to abuse, abandonment, or neglect.¹⁰

Chapter 751 custody is not adoption. It doesn’t terminate anyone’s parental rights, and it can be modified or dissolved later. It’s a bridge that keeps you legally functional while the adoption case moves.

Costs and Financial Help

Total cost swings hard on one variable: do the parents consent? An uncontested case with signed consents is far cheaper than a contested trial on involuntary termination. Expect court filing fees, plus $900 to $4,900 for a home study if the judge orders one. Attorney fees are the biggest line. Florida doesn’t strictly require you to hire a lawyer, but adoption procedure is unforgiving, and a defective consent or petition can unwind the case.

Adoption Assistance for Children From Foster Care

If your grandchild came out of Florida’s foster care system, monthly financial assistance may be available. The state’s adoption assistance program pays $5,000 per year (monthly) toward the child’s support until age 18, though a different amount can be negotiated based on the child’s needs and your circumstances. The monthly payment can’t exceed what the state would have paid for foster care over the same period. Relative caregivers can apply, but the department is required to first ask whether you would adopt without the subsidy.¹¹

Federal Adoption Tax Credit

You may also qualify for the federal adoption tax credit, which covers reasonable expenses like court costs and attorney fees. For the 2026 tax year, the maximum is $17,280 per eligible child.¹² The credit phases out at higher incomes and doesn’t apply to adopting a spouse’s child, but grandparent adoptions qualify. It’s nonrefundable, so it can zero out your federal tax bill but won’t generate a refund on its own. Unused credit carries forward to future tax years.¹³

Time Off Work

If you’re still working, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives you up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to bond with a newly adopted child, regardless of the child’s age. You can also use FMLA leave before the adoption is finalized for court appearances, attorney consultations, and required physical examinations.¹⁴

You qualify if you’ve worked for your employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours in the previous year, and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Public agencies and schools are covered regardless of size. Bonding leave has to be used within 12 months of the child’s placement with you.¹⁴

1
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 63.087 – Proceeding to Terminate Parental Rights Pending Adoption; General Provisions
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 63.082 – Execution of Consent to Adoption or Affidavit of Nonpaternity
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 63.062 – Persons Required to Consent to Adoption
4
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 63.089 – Proceeding to Terminate Parental Rights Pending Adoption
5
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 63.092 – Report to the Court of Intended Placement; Preliminary Study
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 63.112 – Petition for Adoption; Description
7
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 63.042 – Who May Be Adopted; Who May Adopt
8
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 63.152 – Application for New Birth Record
9
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 63.172 – Effect of Judgment of Adoption
10
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Chapter 751 – Temporary Custody of Minor Children by Extended Family Members
11
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 409.166 – Adoption Benefits
12
Internal Revenue Service. Notable Changes to the Adoption Credit
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 23 – Adoption Expenses
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28Q – Taking Leave from Work for Birth, Placement, and Bonding with a Child Under the FMLA