Slaughter, In re
| Decision Date | 09 May 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 7479,7479 |
| Citation | 290 S.W.2d 408 |
| Parties | In the Matter of Emmitt Ray SLAUGHTER, a Minor. Petition for Adoption by Christian J. SWEARY, Sr., and Harriett H. Sweary, husband and wife, Petitioners-Respondents, v. Emigen Bearbower Slaughter KRULL, Cross-Petitioner-Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
William E. Seay, Salem, for appellant.
Wayne W. Waldo, Waynesville, for respondents.
This appeal is from a decree of adoption rendered by the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Missouri, on the petition of Christian J. Sweary, Sr. and Harriett H. Sweary, husband and wife, to adopt Emmitt Ray Slaughter, a minor of the age of 13 years. The court decreed the adoption as prayed for and defendant, Emigen Bearbower Slaughter Krull, the child's mother, appealed.
The amended petition inter alia alleged that Emmitt Ray Slaughter was declared a neglected and dependent child in the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of Dent County, Missouri, on the 20th day of May, 1949, and made a ward of the court under the supervision of the State Health and Welfare Agency; that the parents, Norman Madison Slaughter and Emigen Slaughter wilfully abandoned said minor and willfully neglected to provide said minor with proper care and maintenance for a period of more than one year next before the filing of adoption petition; that petitioners have had actual custody of the child since June, 1953.
The prayer is for adoption and change of name to Sweary.
Emigen Bearbower Slaughter filed answer to the amended petition in which she denied that the child had been declared a neglected child by the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of Dent County and made a ward of the court and specifically denied that she had wilfully abandoned said child and wilfully neglected to provide him with proper care and maintenance for a period of one year before the filing of the adoption petition. She asked the court to deny petitioners request for adoption.
She filed a cross-petition alleging that Emmitt Ray Slaughter was born August 16, 1941, and that Norman Madison Slaughter was his father; that because of the financial and physical inability to care for said child and marital trouble she voluntarily gave up custody; that she diligently attempted to keep in contact with said minor during the time she did not have custody but that her efforts to contract him were thwarted; that she is presently physically and financially able to care for and maintain said minor and wishes to have legal custody and care restored to her.
The court entered a decree April 15, 1955, finding that the allegations of the petition were true and that plaintiffs were entitled to a decree of adoption.
The only assignment of error is:
'In an adoption proceeding the natural parent is entitled to custody, proof being absent that she is morally unfit or physically and financially unable to care for and maintain the child or abandoned child.'
It is the duty of the court to review the whole record as in cases of an equitable nature and reach our own conclusion on both the law and the facts giving due deference to the findings of the trial court as to the weight and value of the testimony. In re Adoption of Forshey's Minor Children, 240 Mo.App. 1089, 225 S.W.2d 816; Wilson v. Wilson, Mo.App., 260 S.W.2d 770.
The evidence is that defendant, Emigen Slaughter Krull, was married to Norman Slaughter in 1940 in Dent County; that there were born to the marriage three children of which Emmitt Ray Slaughter is the eldest, now 13 years of age; that the parents had marital difficulties and after about ten years were divorced; that prior to the divorce they were separated and the children were placed with defendant's parents, which arrangement proved to be unsatisfactory, and, under the advice of her father, defendant turned the two boys over to the Welfare Department, and, on May 20, 1949, Emmitt Ray Slaughter was adjudicated a neglected child in the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of Dent County, made a ward of the court and placed under the supervision of the Welfare Department; that because of difficulties arising from visits paid to the Home, where he was placed by the Welfare Department, by defendant and her mother, Emmitt was transferred to Phelps County. On June 12, 1953, Emmitt Ray Slaughter was placed in the custody of petitioners and at the time of the trial of this case had been in their actual custody almost two years.
The evidence shows defendant was both physically and financially unable to care for and support her children; that she was uneducated and had been employed as a waitress in St. Louis, earning $35 per week; that she was divorced in 1950. At the time of the divorce the children were in the Welfare Department as wards of the court. Defendant testified that she was seriously sick and operated on in 1953 for female trouble; that she had been in the hospital several different times. She was married to Raymond John Krull in November, 1954, and they now live at 3418-A Holliday in St. Louis in a four-room upstairs apartment and pay monthly rental of $85; that Raymond has been married before. He is regularly employed in a garage earning $73 per week. They own no property.
Defendant testified that she voluntarily surrendered the minor child in question to the Welfare Department but had kept in touch with him. She admitted she had not had custody nor had contributed to his support since he had been adjudicated a neglected child; that she had given him some Christmas presents. She testified she had made two visits to see the child since he was placed with petitioners; that on one occasion she saw him but on the other time she was refused permission to visit with him by petitioners.
The evidence shows that the other boy has been adopted and that the girl is now with her father.
In Missouri the right of adoption depends upon statute. Mo.Law Review, Vol. 12, p. 310; Chapter 453, Adoption, Vol. II, RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S.
Our courts have held that adoption statutes must be strictly construed in favor of natural parents' rights in controversies involving termination of the relation of parent and child. Application of Graham, 239 Mo.App. 1036, 199 S.W.2d 68; In re Adams, Mo.App., 248 S.W.2d 63; Robertson v. Cornett, 359 Mo. 1156, 225 S.W.2d 780; In re Wines' Adoption, Mo.App., 239 S.W.2d 101.
In the case at bar there is no contention that petitioners were not proper parties to have custody of the child and fit persons to be awarded his adoption. The evidence shows they were financially and morally qualified to furnish him a proper home.
In section 453.030 RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S., it is provided:
'In all cases the approval of the court of the adoption shall be required and such approval shall be given or withheld as the welfare of the person sought to be adopted may, in the opinion of the court, demand.'
In section 453.040(2) it is provided:
'The consent shall not be required of a parent who has, for a period of at least one year immediately prior to the date of the filing of the petition for adoption, either willfully abandoned the person sought to be adopted, or willfully neglected to provide him with proper care and maintenance. * * *.'
The law as declared in the adoption statutes must not be confused with the juvenile court provisions for delinquent or neglected children. Under the juvenile court provisions the court can provide for the care, discipline, supervision, protection and suitable custody and control of a neglected child during its condition of need. The purposes of such provisions are solely the welfare of the child, whereas the adoption code involves also the legal and civil rights of the parents and children and their natural status. The two proceedings are radically different in both purpose and effect. Relief of abandoned or neglected children is by no means limited to adoption, and can be afforded where needed without destroying the relationship of parent and child. Application of Graham, 239 Mo.App. 1036, 199 S.W.2d 68, 73.
We think the law is well settled that when...
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Adoption of P. J. K., In re, 8065
... ... In re Perkins, 234 Mo.App. 716, 726-727, 117 S.W.2d 686, 692(6); In re Watson's Adoption, 238 Mo.App. 1104, 1114-1115(7), 195 S.W.2d 331, 337; In re Slaughter, Mo.App., 290 S.W.2d 408, 412. Thus, the determinative inquiry becomes whether the father's admitted failure to support his child was intentional, deliberate, and without just cause or excuse ... The father offered various explanations or excuses for his failure to support ... ...
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...and orders not inconsistent with this opinion. STONE and HOGAN, JJ., concur. 1 In the Mayernik, Mo., 292 S.W.2d 562(3); In re Slaughter, Mo.App., 290 S.W.2d 408, 411; In re Adoption of J. M. K., Mo.App., 363 S.W.2d 67(6).2 Morgan v. Morgan, Mo.App., 289 S.W.2d 151, 152; Weiler v. Weiler, Mo......
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