Adoption of Glover, Matter of
| Decision Date | 21 January 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-208,85-208 |
| Citation | 288 Ark. 59,702 S.W.2d 12 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF Nicole Michelle GLOVER. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
B. Michael Easley, Forrest City, for appellant.
Robert Ford, Wynne, for appellee.
Appellants Doug and Marge Glover petitioned to adopt their granddaughter, nine-year-old Nicole Glover, who had lived with them continuously for the preceding four and one-half years. The appellants' son consented to his daughter's adoption, but Mary Crenshaw, Nicole's mother and the appellee, refused to grant her consent. Appellants attempted to dispense with the mother's consent requirement through exceptions provided in Ark.Stat.Ann. § 56-207 (Supp.1985). The probate court held that appellee's consent was required and we affirm. Supreme Court jurisdiction is pursuant to Sup.Ct.R. 29(1)(c).
Generally, the natural parents must consent to an adoption for it to be valid. Ark.Stat.Ann. § 56-206 (Supp.1985). The exceptions in Ark.Stat.Ann. § 56-207 provide:
(a) Consent to adoption is not required of:
(1) ...
(2) a parent of a child in the custody of another, if the parent for a period of at least one (1) year has failed significantly without justifiable cause (i) to communicate with the child or (ii) to provide for the care and support of the child as required by law or judicial decree.
When proving that a natural parent's consent is not required, the parties seeking to adopt "bear the heavy burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence facts which justify dispensing with the required consent of the natural parents" and the finding by the trial court that this burden has not been met will be upheld unless clearly erroneous. Loveless v. May, 278 Ark. 127, 644 S.W.2d 261 (1983).
Nicole's parents were divorced four and one-half years before the petition and appellee was granted custody of the child. The father was ordered to pay $94.00 a month in support, which could be offset by any support paid by his parents, the appellants. Three days after the decree, however, appellee and appellants agreed that Nicole should stay with appellants. The appellants have provided all the support and care of Nicole since that time without contribution from appellee.
The probate court found that appellee had sent letters and gifts to Nicole, some of which were returned unclaimed, and had made occasional visits, and had therefore not failed significantly to communicate with Nicole for more than one year. The court, in addition, found that the appellee had justifiable cause not to provide support because of her reliance on the divorce decree's order that the father pay support and because the appellants were in effect put in the position of parents while they had custody of Nicole. The probate court opinion recognized that the original divorce complaint provided that the appellants should remain responsible for support and maintenance of Nicole while they had custody and that the appellants were given the derivative rights of their son.
The probate court relied on the case of In Re C.J.U., 660 P.2d 237 (Utah 1983), for the proposition that
parents are permanently "duty-bound" to support their children under [the Utah statute]. However, the extent of that duty is not without limitation, particularly in the context of a marriage which has been dissolved by divorce. Once the question of child support has been submitted to a court of competent jurisdiction and a ruling thereon has been obtained, the more general statutory duty of support becomes circumscribed by the more specific duty imposed by the court. A noncustodial...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Adoption Baby Boy B.
... 2012 Ark. 92 394 S.W.3d 837 In the Matter of the ADOPTION OF BABY BOY B., a minor. No. 11374. Supreme Court of Arkansas. March 1, 2012. Rehearing Denied April 12, 2012 ... [394 S.W.3d ... We confirmed our position of giving careful protection to a natural parent's rights in In re Adoption of Glover, 288 Ark. 59, 702 S.W.2d 12 (1986): [T]he power of the court in adoption proceedings to deprive a parent of her child, being in derogation of her ... ...
-
Martin v. Martin
... ... GLAZE, Justice ... In this adoption case, Rachael, the natural mother, and the adoptive parents, Rachael's brother and sister-in-law, ... Swaffar v. Swaffar, 309 Ark. 73, 827 S.W.2d 140 (1992); In the Matter of the Adoption of Parsons, 302 Ark. 427, 791 S.W.2d 681 (1990); Dale v. Franklin, 22 Ark.App. 98, ... giving careful protection to a natural parent's rights in In The Matter of the Adoption of Glover, 288 Ark. 59, 702 S.W.2d 12 (1986) (citing Woodson v. Lee, 221 Ark. 517, 254 S.W.2d 326 (1953) ... ...
-
Newkirk v. Hankins
... ... WAYMOND M. BROWN, Judge Appellant appeals from the circuit court's final decree of adoption in which it granted the appellees' petition to adopt appellant's son, G.N., born 8/21/08; and ... 17 Reid v. Frazee, 72 Ark. App. 474, 480, 41 S.W.3d 397, 401 (2001) (citing In the Matter of the Adoption of Titsworth, 11 Ark. App. 197, 201, 669 S.W.2d 8, 10 (1984) (quoting Zgleszewski ... Caskin, 265 Ark. 558, 580 S.W.2d 176 (1979) ). 19 See In re Adoption of Glover, 288 Ark. 59, 702 S.W.2d 12 (1986) (citing In re C.J.U., 660 P.2d 237 (Utah 1983) ). 20 93 Ark ... ...
-
Lagios v. Goldman
... ... PAUL E. DANIELSON, Associate Justice Appellant Thomas L. Lagios appeals from a decree of adoption entered in the Circuit Court of Columbia County, granting the adoption of his biological daughter ... 427, 791 S.W.2d 681 (1990) ; In re Adoption of Glover, 288 Ark. 59, 702 S.W.2d 12 (1986). In addition, we have held that statutory requirementseven ... 163, 946 S.W.2d 946 (1997) (finding suggestion that probate court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction for lack of strict compliance with the adoption statutes was not valid where cases ... ...