Curtis v. Jones, 62882
| Decision Date | 18 January 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 62882,62882 |
| Citation | 160 Ga.App. 904,288 S.E.2d 615 |
| Parties | CURTIS v. JONES et al. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
E. Herman Warnock, McRae, for appellant.
H. Frederick Mullis, Jr., Eastman, for appellees.
This is an adoption case. The stepfather of a minor child, married to the child's natural mother and former wife of the appellant herein, brought the petition seeking to adopt the child, stating that the natural mother had consented to his adoption in accordance with Code Ann. § 74-403(a)(3) (Ga.L.1977, pp. 201, 203). The petition also alleges that the natural father of the child under Code Ann. § 74-405(b) (Ga.L.1977, pp. 201, 211; 1979, pp. 1182, 1187), had surrendered or terminated his parental rights, and therefore, there was no requirement as a prerequisite that he voluntarily in writing surrender his rights, that is, since he had "failed significantly for a period of one year or longer immediately prior to the filing of the petition for adoption (1) to communicate, or to make a bona fide attempt to communicate with the child, or (2) to provide for the care and support of the child as required by law or judicial decree."
The natural father was served with the petition and responded, filing objections to the adoption, and, in general, denying the claims of the petition and, among other things, that there has been no loss of his parental rights, no abandonment of his sole minor daughter, or that he had failed to voluntarily support her and had not voluntarily failed significantly for a period of one year or longer immediately prior to the filing of this petition to communicate or make a bona fide attempt to communicate with his daughter. His prayer was that the petition for adoption be dismissed and the adoption be denied.
After a hearing, the trial court made findings of fact with reference to the marriage and divorce of the mother and natural father of the minor child and that the natural father was required to pay $32 per week as child support by final decree commencing July 1, 1978, and prior thereto a like amount from May 9, 1978, by interlocutory hearing. The court then found that he had made child support payments prior to the final decree, but subsequent to the divorce he had made no further child support payments, although there had been a payment by the paternal grandmother in December 1979 which was returned by the mother with a note expressing thanks for the check but with a comment that she no longer needed the paternal grandmother's assistance. The court found no other payments made by the father other than a gift of $1 to the child during a visitation period in December 1978. The court also found the father had been incarcerated sometime during December 1979 for several counts of uttering bad checks and thereafter underwent a period of time in a restitution center from June 3, 1979, until August 1979. The court further found the father's probation sentence, including his term in the restitution center, was revoked during the month of August 1979 and he was thereafter incarcerated in the state prison system until July 22, 1980. The court found that during this period (January 1979 to July 1980) the father had earned "from time to time ... sufficient money to contribute some payment toward ... child support." The court also found that he had visited with the daughter sporadically until December 1978, and upon his release from prison in July 1980, he had made a telephone call to his ex-wife (the mother of the child) and was informed that she would not allow him any further visitation with the child. The court also found from the investigation of the home of the petitioner approval of same as one satisfactory for the rearing of the minor child. The trial court's conclusions of law were that the natural father had completely failed to support his minor child for a period in excess of one year...
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Thorne v. Padgett
...may grant the petition for adoption without determining the reasons for the parent's failure to provide support. Curtis v. Jones, 160 Ga.App. 904, 288 S.E.2d 615 (1982). Compare, Kirkland v. Lee, 160 Ga.App. 446, 287 S.E.2d 365 (1981). The granting of the adoption petition, of course, termi......
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Griffith v. Brooks, A94A2776
...entered the guilty pleas thereon which resulted in his incarcerations. These acts are voluntary within the scope of Curtis v. Jones, 160 Ga.App. 904 (288 SE2d 615) (1982)." Griffith relies on Jones v. Sauls, 213 Ga.App. 55, 443 S.E.2d 693 (1994), for his argument that imprisonment is, in an......
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Moore v. Butler, A89A1387
...Moore's incarceration likewise did not relieve him of his natural and statutory obligation to support his child. Curtis v. Jones, 160 Ga.App. 904(1), 288 S.E.2d 615 (1982). Moore's bank account, despite his claim that he was saving the money for the child, did not provide support for the ch......
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Thorne v. Padgett, A89A0767
...failure" to support is sufficient. See, e.g., Kirkland v. Lee, 160 Ga.App. 446, 287 S.E.2d 365 (1981). See also Curtis v. Jones, 160 Ga.App. 904, 288 S.E.2d 615 (1982); Prescott v. Judy, 157 Ga.App. 735, 278 S.E.2d 493 In Brand v. State, 154 Ga.App. 781, 270 S.E.2d 206 (1980), the court hel......