The Florida Senate

63.102  Filing of petition for adoption or declaratory statement; venue; proceeding for approval of fees and costs.--

(1)  A petition for adoption may not be filed until 30 days after the date of the entry of the judgment terminating parental rights pending adoption under this chapter, unless the adoptee is an adult or the minor has been the subject of a judgment terminating parental rights under chapter 39. After a judgment terminating parental rights has been entered, a proceeding for adoption may be commenced by filing a petition entitled, "In the Matter of the Adoption of _____" in the circuit court. The person to be adopted shall be designated in the caption in the name by which he or she is to be known if the petition is granted. Any name by which the minor was previously known may not be disclosed in the petition, the notice of hearing, or the judgment of adoption.

(2)  A petition for adoption or for a declaratory statement as to the adoption contract shall be filed in the county where the petition for termination of parental rights was granted, unless the court, in accordance with s. 47.122, changes the venue to the county where the petitioner or petitioners or the minor resides or where the adoption entity with which the minor has been placed is located. The circuit court in this state must retain jurisdiction over the matter until a final judgment is entered on the adoption. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act does not apply until a final judgment is entered on the adoption.

(3)  Except for adoptions involving placement of a minor with a relative within the third degree of consanguinity, a petition for adoption in an adoption handled by an adoption entity shall be filed within 60 working days after entry of the judgment terminating parental rights. If no petition is filed within 60 days, any interested party, including the state, may file an action challenging the prospective adoptive parent's physical custody of the minor.

(4)  If the filing of the petition for adoption or for a declaratory statement as to the adoption contract in the county where the petitioner or minor resides would tend to endanger the privacy of the petitioner or minor, the petition for adoption may be filed in a different county, provided the substantive rights of any person will not thereby be affected.

(5)  A proceeding for prior approval of fees and costs may be commenced any time after an agreement is reached between the birth mother and the adoptive parents by filing a petition for declaratory statement on the agreement entitled "In the Matter of the Proposed Adoption of a Minor Child" in the circuit court.

(a)  The petition must be filed jointly by the adoption entity and each person who enters into the agreement.

(b)  A contract for the payment of fees, costs, and expenses permitted under this chapter must be in writing, and any person who enters into the contract has 3 business days in which to cancel the contract. To cancel the contract, the person must notify the adoption entity in writing by certified United States mail, return receipt requested, no later than 3 business days after signing the contract. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "business day" means a day on which the United States Postal Service accepts certified mail for delivery. If the contract is canceled within the first 3 business days, the person who cancels the contract does not owe any legal, intermediary, or other fees, but may be responsible for the adoption entity's actual costs during that time.

(c)  The court may grant prior approval only of fees and expenses permitted under s. 63.097 A prior approval of prospective fees and costs does not create a presumption that these items will subsequently be approved by the court under s. 63.132 The court, under s. 63.132, may order an adoption entity to refund any amount paid under this subsection that is subsequently found by the court to be greater than fees, costs, and expenses actually incurred.

(d)  The contract may not require, and the court may not approve, any lump-sum payment to the entity which is nonrefundable to the payor or any amount that constitutes payment for locating a minor for adoption.

(e)  When a petition for a declaratory statement as to the adoption contract is filed prior to the commencement of proceedings to terminate parental rights, it must be filed in accordance with the venue requirements for the filing of the petition terminating parental rights under s. 63.087 Pursuant to s. 63.087, a previously filed petition for a declaratory statement filed under this section must be consolidated with a related subsequently filed petition for termination of parental rights. If the petition for declaratory statement is filed after the judgment terminating parental rights has been entered, the action for declaratory statement must be consolidated with any related petition for adoption. Only one filing fee may be assessed for both the adoption and declaratory statement petitions.

(f)  Prior approval of fees and costs by the court does not obligate the parent to ultimately relinquish the minor for adoption.

History.--s. 10, ch. 73-159; s. 7, ch. 75-226; s. 5, ch. 87-397; s. 2, ch. 90-55; s. 11, ch. 92-96; s. 339, ch. 95-147; s. 21, ch. 2001-3.