Fla. Stat. § 63.042

This is the official text of Fla. Stat. § 63.042, part of Florida’s Stat — part of the compiled statutory law of Florida, published by the state as "Stat." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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63.042 Who may be adopted; who may adopt.

Official statutory text

(1) Any person, a minor or an adult, may be adopted.

(2) The following persons may adopt: (a) A husband and wife jointly; (b) An unmarried adult; or (c) A married person without the other spouse joining as a petitioner, if the person to be adopted is not his or her spouse, and if: 1. The other spouse is a parent of the person to be adopted and consents to the adoption; or 2. The failure of the other spouse to join in the petition or to consent to the adoption is excused by the court for good cause shown or in the best interest of the child.

(3) No person eligible under this section shall be prohibited from adopting solely because such person possesses a physical disability or handicap, unless it is determined by the court or adoption entity that such disability or handicap renders such person incapable of serving as an effective parent.

(4) No person eligible under this section shall be prohibited from adopting solely because he or she desires to educate the adopted child at home.

History: s. 4, ch. 73-159; s. 1, ch. 77-140; s. 1, ch. 80-194; s. 4, ch. 92-96; s. 336, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 2003-58; s. 2, ch. 2015-130.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.