Yes — if there's no lease and no rent agreement, Florida law allows you to legally remove an adult child from your home, using the same process as any other occupant with no legal right to remain.
A standard eviction requires a landlord-tenant relationship — meaning rent was owed or agreed to. If your adult child never paid rent and never signed a lease, a standard eviction is actually the wrong tool. Florida law calls this situation an Unlawful Detainer, governed by Chapter 82 of the Florida Statutes.
No. Florida courts apply the same process and timelines regardless of whether the occupant is a stranger, a friend, or your own child. The law looks at whether a rent agreement existed — not at the relationship between the parties.
This is worth thinking through carefully. If your child ever paid you money toward rent, or you had a verbal agreement like "you can stay if you help with bills," that could create a landlord-tenant relationship — meaning a standard eviction, not Unlawful Detainer, would be the correct process. If you're unsure, this is worth having evaluated before filing.
Generally, no. Occasionally paying for groceries or contributing toward a utility bill doesn't automatically create a tenancy on its own. What matters is whether there was a clear agreement for regular, structured rent payments — informal, occasional contributions to household expenses are usually treated differently from an actual rent arrangement.
This is often one of the hardest decisions a parent makes, and it doesn't have to mean giving up on the relationship. For some families, this legal step becomes the turning point that leads to real change — sometimes even helping an adult child get into treatment or take real responsibility for the first time.
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