Florida Senate - 2020                                     SB 302
       
       
        
       By Senator Rader
       
       
       
       
       
       29-00578-20                                            2020302__
    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 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 younger
   24  less than 18 years of age, written consent to disclose the
   25  adoptee’s name 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 that which prepared the
   49  preliminary study and home investigation, or the department if
   50  no such study was prepared, concerning the advisability of
   51  disclosure.
   52         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.