November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and to celebrate, Floridians all across the state will gather at special ceremonies and community events. And Florida residents have a lot to celebrate; Florida has been recognized nationally for its success in placing foster children in permanent homes. The success of the program…
Alex Sink is the chief financial officer of Florida, and considered the leading democratic candidate for governor of the state. She recently addressed 300 attendees at a gay rights group fundraising dinner, telling them that she believed homosexuals should be legally allowed to adopt children, as long as it is…
TV cooking show host Mary Jo Eustace was not very well known until her husband, actor Dean McDermott, divorced her to marry heiress and famous Hollywood actress Tori Spelling in 2006. McDermott and Spelling met on the set of a lifetime movie they were working on together. Ms. Eustace has…
In Florida, the courts in Miami overturned the ban on gay adoptions in August 2009. Judge Cindy S. Lederman wrote in her opinion that excluding gay couples defeats Florida’s mission to provide all children permanent families. The state has claimed that gays are more likely to suffer from psychological imbalances…
Written By: Lenorae C. Atter, Florida Family Law Attorney latter@woodatter.com As an attorney Jacksonville, Florida I have handled stepparent adoptions and seen the incredible impact and purpose it has for a family. If you are married and your child views your spouse as their parent, then you are probably wanting…
Written By: Lenorae C. Atter, Florida Family Law Attorney latter@woodatter.com In Jacksonville, Florida, as a family law attorney, I receive questions about terminating parental rights. This is not an easy process since there are many protections in place for parents. I will probably do a series of blogs on this…
Written By: Lenorae Atter, Jacksonville Family Law Attorney latter@woodatter.com Stepparent and Guardianship adoptions in Florida are a growing interest and as a Jacksonville family law attorney, I find the statute only gets the process so far. In handling the adoption, there are many different ways for issues to arise and…
Last week in Jacksonville, Florida, the Florida Times Union ran a story regarding a breakthrough in Grandparent Adoption. For the last four years, since their parents’ deaths, two children have been at the center of a legal battle with both sets of grandparents at the helm. last week there was…
International adoptions are popular not only among Madonna and Angelina Jolie, but Jacksonville, Florida residents as well. As a family law attorney I have clients call once they adopted out of the country and they want to make certain their adoption is legal in the U.S. and in Florida. Once…
International adoptions, like Madonna’s, have made the news for years in Jacksonville, Florida and throughout the country. As a family law attorney in Jacksonville, I have clients call to find out the process for such adoptions. The reality is, as evident in Madonna’s current court case in Africa, each country…