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Stepparent Adoption: Affidavit of Diligent Search

This form, Affidavit of Diligent Form, is for the use of adopting stepparents.Download

Extracted Text for Proper Search

Instructions for Florida S	upreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.981(a)(4), Petition for Stepparent Adoption: 	
Affidavit of Diligent Search 	(03/15	) 	
INSTRUCTIONS FOR FLORIDA SUPREME COURT APPROVED FAMILY LAW 	
FORM 12.981(a)(4),	 	
STEPPARENT ADOPTION: AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH	 	
(03/15	) 	
 	
When should this form be used?	 	
 	
Use this form to obtain 	constructive service	 (also called service by publication) in a 	proceeding for 	
stepparent adoption,	 Joint Petition for Adoption by Stepparent,	 Florida Supreme Court Approved 	
Family Law Form 12.981(b)(1), when any required consent is unavailable because the address or location 
of the person whose consent is required is 	not known and cannot be determined.	 	
 
This form includes a checklist of places you must look for information on the location of the person 
whose	 rights you seek to terminate. 	You do have to look in all of these places, and the court must believe 	
that you ha	ve made a very serious effort to get information about the person	’s location and that you 	
have followed up on	 any information you received. 	Section 63.054, Florida Statutes, requires that in each 	
adoption a search of Florida	’s Putative Father Re	gistry must	 be conducted. 	You will need an order from 	
the judge to do this, which you can request by filing a 	Motion for Search of the Putative Father Registry,	 	
Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.981(a)(6).	  	
 
This form should be typed or	 printed in bla	ck ink. 	After completing this form, you should 	file	 the original 	
with the 	clerk of the circuit court	 in the county where your 	petition	 was filed and keep a copy for your 	
records	. 	
 
 	 	 	IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING E	-FILING	 	
 
The Florida Rules of Judicial A	dministration now require that 	all 	petitions, pleadings, and documents be filed 	
electronically  except  in  certain  circumstances. 	Self	-represented  litigants  may  file	 petition	s or  other 	
pleadings 	or documents 	electronically; however, they are not required to 	do so. 	If you choose to file your 	
pleading	s or  document	s electronically,  you  must  do  so  in  accordance  with  Florida  Rule  of  Judicial 	
Administration 2.525, and you must follow the procedures of the judicial circuit in which you file. 	The rules 	
and procedures	 should be carefully read and followed.	 	
 
 	Where can I look for more information?	 	
 
Before proceeding, you should read General Information for Self	-Represented Litigants found at the 	
beginning of these forms.	 For further information, see rule 12.070, Florida	 Family Law Rules of 	
Procedure and Rule 1.070, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.	 	
 
 	Special notes...	 	
 
Remember, a person who is NOT an attorney is called a nonlawyer. If a nonlawyer helps you fill out these	 	
forms, that person must give you a copy of a 	Discl	osure from Nonlawyer	, Florida Family Law Rules of 	
Procedure Form 12.900(a), before he or she he	lps you. 	A nonlawyer helping you fill out these forms also 	
must	 put his or her name, address, and telephone number on the bottom of the last page of every form 	
he or she helps you complete.

Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.981(a)(4), Petition for Stepparent Adoption: Affidavit of 
Diligent Search 	(03/15	) 	
  IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 	         	 JUDICIAL CIRCUIT,	 	
   IN AND FOR 	                        	 __	 COUNTY, FLORIDA	 	
 	
Case No.: 	 	 	
Division: 	 	 	
IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF	 	
 
 
_________________________________	_____________	 	
{us	e name to be given to the minor child(ren)}	 Adoptee(s).	 	
 	
 	
PETITION FOR STEPPAR	ENT ADOPTION:	 	
AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH	 	
 
I, {full legal name}	  	 	 	 	 	 	, being sworn, certify that the following 	
information is true:	 	
 
1. 	I am the child(ren)	’s _____	 mothe	r _____	 father.	 	
 
2. 	The last known address of the child(ren)	’s other parent 	{name}	   	 	
 	______	, 	
as of 	{date}	  	 	 	 	, was:	 	
 	 	
Address	  	 	 	 	City	 	 	 	State	 	 	Zip	 	
 	
Telephone No.	 ____________________       	Fax No.	 _______________________	________	 	
 	
His/her last known employment	, as of 	{date}	  	 	 	 	, was:	 	
 	 	
Name of Employer	 	 	
 	 	
Address	  	 	 	 	City	 	 	 	State	 	 	Zip	 	
 	
Telephone No.	 ____________________	 	Fax No.	 ________________________	 	
 
3. 	The other parent is over the age of 18.	 	
 
4. 	The  other  parent	’s  current  residence  is  not  known  and  cannot 	be  determined,  although  I  have 	
made a diligent search and inquiry to locate him/her through the following: 	 	
You must search ALL of the following sources of information and state the results.	 	
 	_____	United States Post Office inquiry through the Freedom of In	formation Act for the person	’s 	
current address or any previous address.	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                      	  	
_____	Last known employment of the other parent, including name and address of employer.  	 	
      	       	 Result of sear	ch:

Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.981(a)(4), Petition for Stepparent Adoption: Affidavit of 
Diligent Search 	(03/15	) 	
_____	Regulatory agencies, including professional or occupational licensing, in the area where the 	
other parent last resided.  	 	
      	  	Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                       	  	
_____	Names and addresses of relatives to the extent such can be reasonably obtained from the 	
petitioner or other sources, contacts with those relatives and inquiry as to the other parent	’s last 	
known address. You are to follow up any leads of any addresses wher	e the other parent may have 	
moved.  	 	
       	 	Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	                                                                    	  	
 	______	 Information about the other parent	’s possible death and, if dead, the date and location.	 	
      	 	 Result of se	arch:_________________________	_________________________________________	 	
______	Telephone listings in the area where the other parent last resided.  	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                                      	  	
______	Law enforcement agenc	ies in the area where the other parent last resided.  	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                        	  	
______	Highway Patrol records in the state where the other parent last resided.  	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                          	               	  	
______	Department of Corrections records in the state where the other parent last resided.  	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                  	 	 	
  	______	Hospitals in the last known area of the other parent	’s residence.  	 	
Result of	 search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                     	 	 	
 	______	Records of utility companies, which include water, sewer, cable TV, and electric in the last 	
known area of the other parent	’s residence.  	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                            	             	  	
 	       	___	Records of the Armed Forces of the U.S. and their response as to whether or not there is 	
any information about the other parent. (See Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 
12.912(a), Memorandum for Certificate of Military	 Service.)	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                       	  	
 	       	___	Records of the tax assessor	’s and tax collector	’s office in the area where the other parent 	
last resided.  	 	
       	 	Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	                          	                            	  	
 	    	____	 Search of one Internet databank locator service. 	 	
Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	                                          	 	
 	       	      	   Title IV	-D (child support enforcement) agency records in the state of the other	 parent	’s 	
last known address.  	 	
      	       	 Result of search:  	 	 	 	 	 	 	__________________________	 	
  
     	 	 {if appli	cable	}: 	
 	_____	 A search of the Putative Father Registry maintained by the Office of Vital Statistics of the 	
Department of Health has been r	equested, and if granted, the certificate from the State Registrar 	
will be filed in this action.

Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.981(a)(4), Petition for Stepparent Adoption: Affidavit of 
Diligent Search 	(03/15	) 	
 
 
 
I understand that I am swearing or affirming under oath to the truthfulness of the claims made in this 
affidavit  and  that  the  punishment  for  knowingly	 making  a  false  statement  includes  fines  and/or 	
imprisonment.	 	
 
Dated: 	  	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Signature of Petitioner	 	
Printed Name: 	 	 	
Address: 	 	 	
City, State, Zip: 	 	 	
Telephone Number: 	 	 	
Fax Number	:  	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	Designated E	-mail Address(es): ____________________	 	
 	 	 	 	 	         	    _____________________________________________	 	
STATE OF FLORIDA	 	
COUNTY OF 	                                        	 	
 
Sworn to or affirmed and signed before me on 	                              	 by 	 	. 	
 	
 	 	
NOTARY PUBLIC or DEPUTY CLERK	 	
 	 	
[Print,  type,  or  stam	p  commissioned  name  of  notary  or 	
deputy clerk.]	 	
_____	Personally known	 	
_____	 Produced identification	 	
Type of identification produced	                                             	 	
 
IF A NONLAWYER HELPED YOU FILL OUT THIS FORM, HE/SHE MUST FILL IN THE BLANKS B	ELOW:	  	
[fill in 	all	 blanks]	 This form was prepared for the	 petitioner.	 	
This form was completed with the assistance of:	 	
{name of 	individual	} ______________________________	________________________________	, 	
{name of business} 	_________________________________	_______________________________,	 	
 {address} ________________________________________________________________________	,  	
{city}	 ________________	,{state}	 ______	, {zip code}________, 	{tele	pho	ne	 number	}_______________	. 	
.
Relevant article from our knowledge database

In the standard stepparent adoption case, the stepparent would like to adopt her or his spouse's child born in an earlier relationship or marriage. Though a lot of people might assume that the stepparent would get parental rights by simply virtue of her or his marriage to the kid's parent, in many courts, this isn't the instance. In case the stepparent dies, the kid cannot inherit from him. In doing so, he or she is able to become the legal mother or legal father of the child. It may be feasible for a stepparent to adopt the stepchild, even when kid is legitimate. A stepparent who adopts their stepchild is agreeing to develop into that kid's legal parent and to be fully accountable for the kid.
Read more

While adoption will enable a youngster to adopt under most intestate laws and will offer more protections for the association between the stepparent and the kid, there are a few consequences and issues that arise as a consequence of the adoption. In some provinces, in some specific scenarios, the adoption is completed in an issue of weeks. Rapid Adoption stipulates a way for everyday individuals to finish their very own low cost stepparent adoption. This isn't typical, as the typical stepparent adoption takes a couple months to turn into final.

Next: Stepparent Adoption: Consent of Adoptee Previous: Stepparent Adoption: Consent of Adult Adoptees Spouse
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