In re Adoption of K.E.
A petitioner sought to adopt her first cousin once removed as a 'relative' under chapter 63, which limits relatives to those within the third degree of consanguinity. The trial court dismissed, using the civil law method of computing degrees (fifth degree). The Fourth District reversed, holding that section 63.032(16) incorporates the common law method, under which first cousins once removed are third-degree relatives.
Key facts
- Petitioner sought to adopt her first cousin once removed as a 'relative' under chapter 63, Florida Statutes, which limits relative adoptions to those within the third degree of consanguinity.
- The trial court dismissed the petition, determining that the first cousin once removed fell outside the third degree using the civil law method of computing degrees of kinship.
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Why it matters
The opinion supplies a clean statement of the imputed-common-law canon: an undefined common-law term in a Florida statute carries its common-law meaning, and statutes are not read to displace the common law absent… — full analysis with a trial
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