A.H. v. K.M. (In re A.H.)
| Decision Date | 05 August 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. 2020-CA-00296-SCT,2020-CA-00296-SCT |
| Citation | 323 So.3d 509 |
| Parties | In the ADOPTION OF A.M., a Minor: A.H. v. K.M. and J.J. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
¶1. This case arises from a custody dispute between a natural mother and an adoptive mother. The chancellor allowed the natural mother to withdraw her surrender of parental rights and consent to adoption. The chancellor also found that the natural mother was under duress when she signed the surrender and revoked the order granting temporary custody of the child to the adoptive mother. This Court affirms the chancellor's judgment.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶2. In November of 2018, K.M. ("Kim") was pregnant with A.M. ("Amy").1 She decided to contact Lifetime Adoption Agency to consider placing Amy for adoption. Her reason was that she had hoped to be married before having a second child. Kim did not follow through with the adoption at that time.
¶3. Amy was born on December 10, 2018, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Kim is also the mother of an older daughter from a previous relationship, who lives with Kim when she is not with her father. According to Kim, J.J. ("Jim") is Amy's biological father.
¶4. In April 2019, four months after Amy's birth, Kim lost her job and remained unemployed for three months.
¶5. In July 2019, Kim once again considered Amy's adoption and contacted Lifetime for the second time. Kim looked through the adoptive parent profiles that Lifetime provided and chose A.H. ("Amanda"), a Georgia resident, as the person to adopt Amy.
¶6. Lifetime told Amanda of this decision, and Amanda received a call from Kim that confirmed her selection. Lifetime explained to Amanda that she would need to hire a Mississippi attorney to draw up the necessary legal papers and provided a list of attorneys. Amanda chose Attorney Dan Davis.
¶7. Davis arranged a meeting between Amanda and Kim. They met in Hattiesburg on July 27, 2019. When Kim arrived, she placed Amy, who was seven months old at the time, in Amanda's lap. Kim then went over the required paperwork with Davis. Davis recorded the conversation. He informed Kim that the adoption would terminate her parental rights in Amy and that her decision was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.
¶8. Davis presented Kim with a document that was titled "Surrender of Parental Rights and Consent to Adoption." Kim signed the surrender. Then, Kim provided Amanda a basket of Amy's clothes and escorted them to their car. Kim exchanged her goodbyes, and Amanda drove away with Amy.
¶9. Two days later, Davis filed the petition for adoption. The petition included Kim's executed surrender. On July 30, 2019, the chancellor entered an "Order Granting Temporary Custody" that granted custody of Amy to Amanda and allowed her to take Amy to Georgia. As part of the order, the chancellor held that "the surrender of parental right form signed by the mother complied with applicable statutes, and is accepted by the Court pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 93-15-111." Further, the chancellor ruled that "[Amanda] is hereby granted temporary custody of the child."
¶10. On August 21, 2019, the chancellor entered a fiat that set the hearing on "the termination of parental rights and the adoption" for October 2, 2018.
¶11. On August 26, 2019, Kim filed her "Withdrawal of Consent to Voluntary Surrender of Parental Rights." In this document, Kim stated that she withdrew "any voluntary surrender of parental rights" and "her consent to adoption as she no longer wishes to give up her child for adoption."
¶12. On September 4, 2019, through her attorney, Kim filed her "Response to Petition for Adoption." Then, Kim filed a "Motion for Temporary Relief" and asked the court to "restore custody" of Amy to Kim or, alternatively, to allow visitation until trial. The motion for temporary relief was noticed for hearing on October 2, 2019.
¶13. On September 27, 2019, the chancellor entered an order appointing a guardian ad litem.
¶14. At the October 2, 2019 hearing, Kim, Amanda, and their attorneys appeared. The chancellor considered the fact that Amy's biological father—Jim—had not been personally served with process. Davis indicated that he had attempted to contact Jim based on the only information Kim provided him, a telephone number, but that he was unsuccessful. Davis served Jim with process by publication that was published in a Poplarville newspaper on August 28, September 4, and September 11, 2019. Davis received no response from Jim.
¶15. Kim revealed that Jim had called her before the hearing on his cell phone, and Kim informed him of the hearing. Jim provided Kim his new address. As a result, the chancellor entered an order for continuance. The order also announced that the parties would undertake discovery and would serve Jim with process at his new address.
¶16. On October 18, 2019, George Schmidt entered an appearance as the attorney for Amanda.
¶17. On January 30, 2020, Amanda filed a motion to strike. In the motion, Amanda argued that based on the surrender and the temporary-custody order, the court had terminated the parental rights of Kim, and she no longer had standing to challenge the adoption. Amanda argued that "Paragraph 4 of the temporary order states, ‘The surrender of parental rights form signed by the mother complies with all applicable statutes and is accepted by the court pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 93-15-111.’ " Further, " Miss. Code Ann. § 93-15-111(2) states, ‘[t]he court's acceptance of the parent's written voluntary surrender of parental rights terminates all of the parent's parental rights to the child, including but not limited to the right to control or withhold consent to adoption.’ " Amanda applied to the chancellor to strike Kim's pleadings and to remove her and her counsel from any further hearings or proceedings on the adoption.
¶18. Also, on January 30, 2020, the court held a hearing consistent with the order of continuance dated October 2, 2019. The chancellor determined that the case was not ready for trial because process was not complete on Jim, and it was impossible to proceed to trial. On February 24, 2020, the chancellor also made the following ruling:
¶19. A summons was issued the next day for service on Jim to appear at the March 30, 2020 hearing. In March 2020, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department attempted to serve Jim at the address Kim provided but discovered that the street number did not exist. The sheriff's office then tried to call the phone number but received no answer. The sheriff's office was able to procure another potential address for Jim in Hattiesburg, but it too proved futile.
¶20. Although the chancellor's January 30, 2020 order set the case for trial on March 30, 2020, the trial never occurred. Instead, on March 2, 2020, the chancellor issued an "Opinion and Order on Withdrawal of Consent and Surrender." The chancellor concluded:
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