Florida Senate - 2020                              CS for SB 302
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
       Senator Rader
       
       
       
       
       586-03117-20                                           2020302c1
    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 and the adoptee is 18 years of age or older; if the adoptee
   21  is younger than 18 years of age, the adoptive parent must also
   22  provide written consent to disclose the birth parent’s name;
   23         2.(b) The name and identity of the adoptee, if the adoptee
   24  is 18 or more years of age or older and, authorizes in writing
   25  the release of his or her name; or, if the adoptee is younger
   26  less than 18 years of age, written consent to disclose the
   27  adoptee’s name is obtained from an adoptive parent; or
   28         3.(c) The name and identity of the adoptive parent, if the
   29  adoptive parent authorizes in writing the release of his or her
   30  name.; or
   31         (b)(d) A person may disclose from the records the name and
   32  identity of a birth parent, an adoptive parent, or an adoptee
   33  upon order of the court for good cause shown. In determining
   34  whether good cause exists, the court shall give primary
   35  consideration to the best interests of the adoptee, but must
   36  also give due consideration to the interests of the adoptive and
   37  birth parents. Factors to be considered in determining whether
   38  good cause exists include, but are not limited to:
   39         1. The reason the information is sought;
   40         2. The existence of means available to obtain the desired
   41  information without disclosing the identity of the birth
   42  parents, such as by having the court, a person appointed by the
   43  court, the department, or the licensed child-placing agency
   44  contact the birth parents and request specific information;
   45         3. The desires, to the extent known, of the adoptee, the
   46  adoptive parents, and the birth parents;
   47         4. The age, maturity, judgment, and expressed needs of the
   48  adoptee; and
   49         5. The recommendation of the department, licensed child
   50  placing agency, or professional that which prepared the
   51  preliminary study and home investigation, or the department if
   52  no such study was prepared, concerning the advisability of
   53  disclosure.
   54         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.