Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Adoption

When a person seeks to adopt a child in Florida, part of the process involves terminating the rights of the legal parents. What must be shown to terminate the rights of a parent? This was an issue in the case D.C. v. In re: The Matter of the Adoption of N.L.W., 1D2023-1725 (Fla. 1st DCA July 10, 2024).

The maternal grandparents in this case were seeking to adopt their grandchild, and in the process they sought termination of the father’s rights. The trial court declined to terminate the father’s rights, thereby preventing the grandparents from moving forward with an adoption action. The grandparents appealed.

The appellate court noted “This Court employs a ‘highly deferential’ standard when reviewing orders concerning the termination of parental rights. Florida Dep’t of Child. & Fams. v. M.H., 369 So. 3d 780, 785 (Fla. 1st DCA 2023) (‘A trial court’s finding that the evidence is clear and convincing enjoys a presumption of correctness and will be overturned only if clearly erroneous or lacking evidentiary support.’ [internal citation omitted].”

The court concluded “A finding of abandonment requires clear and convincing evidence that the parent abandoned the child, as defined in section 63.032. § 63.089(3)(e), Fla. Stat. And section 63.089(4) identifies additional factors for the trial court to consider when making an abandonment determination. After a careful review of the record, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion when finding that Father did not abandon the child by clear and convincing evidence.”

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