The Florida Supreme Court says it’s OK for a Florida man to take his daughter into his custody if he can show they’re in a better position financially.
The justices ruled Wednesday that it’s legal for an adoptive family to keep a child under the age of 17 in their custody after a judge decides the child needs to be taken to a new home.
The ruling came after a case involving the adoptive parents of a boy who was adopted and has been living with his biological mother.
The boy’s adoptive parents say he’s been living in a trailer park for three years and that he is homeless and has never attended school.
In court filings, the adoptive family said they can’t afford a lawyer and need help getting him to a foster home, so the judge agreed to let them keep the boy.
The child’s biological mother had sought to keep the child in her custody, and the judge granted her request.
The court’s ruling comes a month after the Florida Supreme Commission on Children and Families approved a bill that would allow adoptive parents to stay in the custody of their children if they meet certain requirements.
The commission, which oversees the state’s foster care system, is set to vote on the bill on Wednesday.