Florida Senate - 2019 CS for SB 832
By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Rader
588-04027-19 2019832c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to adoption records; amending s.
3 63.162, F.S.; providing that the name and identity of
4 a birth parent, an adoptive parent, and an adoptee may
5 be disclosed from the adoption records without a court
6 order under certain circumstances; providing an
7 effective date.
8
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 63.162, Florida
12 Statutes, is amended to read:
13 63.162 Hearings and records in adoption proceedings;
14 confidential nature.—
15 (4)(a) A person may not disclose the following from the
16 records without a court order the name and identity of a birth
17 parent, an adoptive parent, or an adoptee unless:
18 1.(a) The name and identity of the birth parent if the
19 birth parent authorizes in writing the release of his or her
20 name;
21 2.(b) The name and identity of the adoptee, if the adoptee
22 is 18 or more years of age or older and , authorizes in writing
23 the release of his or her name; or, if the adoptee is less than
24 18 years of age, written consent to disclose the adoptee’s name
25 is obtained from an adoptive parent; or
26 3.(c) The name and identity of the adoptive parent if the
27 adoptive parent authorizes in writing the release of his or her
28 name.; or
29 (b)(d) A person may disclose from the records the name and
30 identity of a birth parent, an adoptive parent, or an adoptee
31 upon order of the court for good cause shown. In determining
32 whether good cause exists, the court shall give primary
33 consideration to the best interests of the adoptee, but must
34 also give due consideration to the interests of the adoptive and
35 birth parents. Factors to be considered in determining whether
36 good cause exists include, but are not limited to:
37 1. The reason the information is sought;
38 2. The existence of means available to obtain the desired
39 information without disclosing the identity of the birth
40 parents, such as by having the court, a person appointed by the
41 court, the department, or the licensed child-placing agency
42 contact the birth parents and request specific information;
43 3. The desires, to the extent known, of the adoptee, the
44 adoptive parents, and the birth parents;
45 4. The age, maturity, judgment, and expressed needs of the
46 adoptee; and
47 5. The recommendation of the department, licensed child
48 placing agency, or professional which prepared the preliminary
49 study and home investigation, or the department if no such study
50 was prepared, concerning the advisability of disclosure.
51 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.