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2021 Florida Statutes (Including 2021B Session)

Title VI CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
Chapter 63 ADOPTION Entire Chapter
SECTION 053
Rights and responsibilities of an unmarried biological father; legislative findings.
F.S. 63.053
63.053 Rights and responsibilities of an unmarried biological father; legislative findings.—
(1) In enacting the provisions contained in this chapter, the Legislature prescribes the conditions for determining whether an unmarried biological father’s actions are sufficiently prompt and substantial so as to require protection of a constitutional right. If an unmarried biological father fails to take the actions that are available to him to establish a relationship with his child, his parental interest may be lost entirely, or greatly diminished, by his failure to timely comply with the available legal steps to substantiate a parental interest.
(2) The Legislature finds that the interests of the state, the mother, the child, and the adoptive parents described in this chapter outweigh the interest of an unmarried biological father who does not take action in a timely manner to establish and demonstrate a relationship with his child in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. An unmarried biological father has the primary responsibility to protect his rights and is presumed to know that his child may be adopted without his consent unless he strictly complies with this chapter and demonstrates a prompt and full commitment to his parental responsibilities.
(3) The Legislature finds that a birth mother and a birth father have a right of privacy.
History.—s. 10, ch. 2003-58; s. 9, ch. 2012-81.