Henderson v. Department of Human Resources
| Decision Date | 26 October 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 58387,58387 |
| Citation | 262 S.E.2d 241,152 Ga.App. 74 |
| Parties | HENDERSON v. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Michael A. Sherling, Moultrie, for appellant.
Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Carol Atha Cosgrove, Asst. Atty. Gen., Larkin M. Fowler, Jr., Moultrie, for appellee.
Appeal from termination of parental rights. An hour before the juvenile court hearing on the petition filed by the Department of Human Resources, the mother voluntarily signed a surrender of parental rights. On the hearing, the court terminated the rights of both parents upon finding that the defendant father wilfully and wantonly failed to provide support for his minor children for more than twelve months immediately prior to the filing of the petition for termination of parental rights, he having been ordered to pay such support by a court of competent jurisdiction, and that the children "are deprived children within the meaning of the Juvenile Court Act, the causes and conditions of the deprivation are likely to continue and will not be remedied, and as a result thereof the said children will suffer serious mental, physical, and emotional harm unless the parental rights of the parents are terminated and severed." Appellant, the father, contends on appeal that the evidence presented to the juvenile court did not constitute sufficient evidence to terminate his parental rights. Held:
1. The evidence was insufficient to find that appellant wilfully and wantonly failed to support the children in compliance with a court order for a period of twelve months or longer, Pursuant to Code § 24A-3201(a)(4), so as to authorize termination of his parental rights under that Code section.
Under the divorce settlement and agreement between the parents, made judgment and order of the court May 25, 1972, appellant was obligated to pay, at that time, certain graduated sums and $160 per month currently and since 1977, when both children had reached the age of six years.
It is undisputed that appellant has directly paid only $65 since 1972 in support of his children. However, a witness for appellee admitted that the children were receiving "small checks" in Social Security disability benefits from some source; appellant stated that since 1972, his children had received Social Security disability checks on his behalf. Appellant has been incarcerated since 1974; except for one month in 1978, when he was released on parole, his income since 1974 from all sources appears to be not more than $2100. The amount of the Social Security benefits received by the children was not adduced. Under the holding in Horton v. Horton, 219 Ga. 177, 132 S.E.2d 200, appellant is entitled to be credited with any Social Security payments made to his children on his account, and there is no evidence in this case from which the court below could find that the payments received by the children were less than the amount appellant was obligated to pay under the divorce settlement and decree. The requirements for termination of parental rights upon a finding of wilful and wanton failure to support are precisely stated in Code § 24A-3201(a)(4), and do not permit a lesser standard for terminating parental rights under that statute.
2. The evidence shows that appellant and the children's mother were divorced in 1972, when the children were one and three years old. The mother retained custody of the children. In 1974 her home circumstances came to the attention of the Colquitt County Department of Family and Children Services. In 1976, temporary custody of the children was awarded to that department; since that time the children have lived in foster care with their maternal grandparents. Appellant was, and there is evidence he still is, a drug addict, involved with at least heroin and cocaine. His criminal...
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Chancey v. Department of Human Resources
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Patty v. Department of Human Resources, 59585
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