TR, Matter of, C-88-10
| Decision Date | 21 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. C-88-10,C-88-10 |
| Citation | 777 P.2d 1106 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Parental Rights to TR and JS, a/k/a JTS, minor children. PR, a/k/a PS, Appellant (Respondent), v. Charles W. SHANNON, Director of the Big Horn County Office of Public Assistance and Social Services, Appellee (Petitioner). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
John W. Davis of Davis, Donnell, Worrall & Bancroft, P.C., Worland, for appellant.
Joseph B. Meyer, Atty. Gen., Peter J. Mulvaney, Deputy Atty. Gen., and Richard E. Dixon, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before THOMAS, URBIGKIT, MACY and GOLDEN, JJ., and RAPER, J. (RET.).
This case is before the Court for a second time. In the prior appeal, P.R. v. Shannon, 726 P.2d 500 (Wyo.1986), we reversed and remanded a decision terminating the parental rights of PR, due to the failure to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of the minor children in the termination proceeding. The instant appeal is from an order of the district court which, upon the motion of the State of Wyoming, Division of Public Assistance and Social Services, dismissed the petition for termination of parental rights but upheld the validity of relinquishments of custody and consents for adoption previously executed by appellant PR in relation to her minor children, TR and JS. In resolving the issues presented in this appeal, we must examine the validity of the relinquishments and consents for adoption, including the effect of appellant's attempted revocation thereof, and determine whether the procedural mechanisms involved in this case were sufficient to free these children for adoption.
We affirm.
Appellant presents these issues:
1. [WHETHER] THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT APPLIED AN IMPROPER STANDARD TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT A RELINQUISHMENT OF PARENTAL RIGHTS WAS VALID.
2. [WHETHER] THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FAILED TO APPLY THE FACTS DEVELOPED TO THE PROPER STANDARD.
The Big Horn County Department of Public Assistance and Social Services (DPASS) first became involved with appellant in 1976 or 1977 when it arranged for her placement in the Job Corps. In 1981, while unmarried and pregnant with TR, appellant was referred to DPASS by a physician who was concerned about her ability to adequately care for the child. DPASS unsuccessfully attempted to persuade appellant to relinquish the baby for adoption. TR was born in October of 1981. Appellant did not marry TR's father. Thereafter, DPASS provided various services to appellant, primarily involving public assistance benefits. Appellant subsequently married, and a second child, JS, was born in early 1983. 1 In September 1983, DPASS received a child abuse complaint regarding TR, and from that point forward DPASS became actively involved in attempting to improve appellant's parenting skills in order that she could properly care for her children.
Efforts by DPASS to improve appellant's abilities as a parent and to protect the children included parenting classes, mental health counseling, protective day care, and temporary foster care for the children. These efforts were largely unsuccessful, however, as continued incidents of neglect and complaints of abuse were documented. Beginning in the fall of 1984, as a result of the continuing problems, appellant's DPASS caseworker began discussing with appellant the possibility or option of relinquishing her children for adoption. In October of 1984, appellant was not willing to relinquish her children for adoption but she did agree to a voluntary thirty-day foster placement for them. In the ensuing months, appellant's mental health counselor also discussed with her the possibility of relinquishing her children for adoption.
As further incidents and complaints of neglect and abuse occurred, it became apparent to the agencies involved that efforts on behalf of appellant and her children were not succeeding and that more drastic measures might be needed. These concerns were communicated to appellant. Finally, during a counseling session with her mental health counselor on May 24, 1985, appellant declared she was ready to relinquish the children for adoption. Her mental health counselor telephoned the caseworker, informed her of appellant's decision, and then transported appellant to the DPASS office where appellant executed relinquishment and consent for adoption documents for both children in the presence of her mental health counselor, the caseworker, and a notary public. Physical relinquishment of the children occurred later that day.
A few days later, appellant called the DPASS office and indicated she wished to revoke the relinquishments, and this telephone call was followed by a letter to the same effect dated June 4, 1985. In her telephone call and letter, appellant indicated that she had not fully understood the consequences of relinquishment and that she wanted her brother and sister-in-law in Alaska to adopt the children.
In an action apparently reflecting some uncertainty regarding the validity of the relinquishments and consents for adoption, DPASS filed a petition on June 28, 1985, seeking termination of appellant's parental rights and those rights of the children's fathers. Following a hearing held February 4 and 5, 1986, the district court entered its order terminating appellant's parental rights on the basis of neglect and failure of efforts to rehabilitate pursuant to Wyo.Stat. § 14-2-309(a)(iii) (1977). The district court also terminated the parental rights of TR's father by default on the basis of his election, as communicated to the court by his appointed counsel, not to appear and contest. JS' father had been dismissed from the termination action pursuant to his motion to dismiss, presented at the close of the State's case, upon the district court's finding that the State had failed to present clear and convincing evidence that he was unfit to have custody of JS. As previously mentioned, the termination decision was overturned by this Court on the procedural ground that a guardian ad litem had not been appointed to represent the interests of the children as required in termination proceedings by this Court's decision in DB v. MM, 617 P.2d 1078 (Wyo.1980), and by Wyo.Stat. § 14-3-211(a) (1977). 2 Mandate on reversal issued from this Court on October 28, 1986. On November 17, 1986, the State/DPASS filed a motion to dismiss the termination proceedings on the ground that the voluntary relinquishments and consents to adoption had effectively extinguished appellant's parental rights, thereby rendering termination proceedings unnecessary. The State also noted in this motion that JS' father had executed a relinquishment with respect to JS since the original hearing. Appellant resisted the motion to dismiss, indicating to the district court that she should have a forum in which to challenge the validity of the consents. An attorney was appointed as guardian ad litem for the children. Thereafter, upon the stipulation of the parties, the district court allowed appellant to amend her answer to the original termination petition by adding a counterclaim for declaratory relief regarding the validity of the relinquishments. The district court's September 25, 1987, order granting appellant leave to amend her answer effectively provided for a bifurcated hearing in which the validity of the relinquishments would be considered as a threshold matter.
The matter was heard on January 6 and 7, 1988, and the district court, in its subsequent decision letter and order, found the relinquishments and consents to adoption executed by appellant to be valid and binding. The termination proceedings, consequently, were dismissed. This appeal followed. This Court, upon its own motion, noted that the order appealed from did not dispose of the claims relating to the two fathers and remanded for entry of a final order with respect to those claims. Accordingly, the district court entered an order indicating that the parental rights of the fathers had previously been resolved. The district court noted that JS' father had signed a voluntary relinquishment with respect to JS and that the parental rights of TR's father to TR were terminated by the original order in this case, from which he did not appeal.
Appellant's primary contention in this appeal is that the district court applied an improper standard in determining whether or not the relinquishments executed by appellant were valid. We cannot agree.
We first observe that this action is predicated on the Wyoming adoption statutes, Wyo.Stat. §§ 1-22-101 to -116 (1977), and not on the termination of parental rights statutes, Wyo.Stat. §§ 14-2-308 to -319 (1977). In PAA v. Doe, 702 P.2d 1259 (Wyo.1985), we observed that the adoption statutes and termination statutes do not serve identical purposes and, therefore, they are subject to different standards. We have also stated that "consent lies at the foundation of statutes of adoption and that the first duty of the judge is to see that all necessary consents are given." MVF v. MF, 766 P.2d 550, 552 (Wyo.1988).
As it existed in relation to this case, § 1-22-109, entitled "Consent to adoption," provided: 3
(a) A written relinquishment of the child and written consent to adoption shall be filed with the petition to adopt and shall be signed by:
(i) Both parents, if living; or
(ii) The surviving parent; or
(iii) The mother and putative father of the child if the name of the putative father is known; or
(iv) The mother alone if she does not know the name of the putative father, in which case she shall sign and file an affidavit so stating; or
(v) The legal guardian of the person of the child if neither parent is living or if parental rights have been judicially terminated; or
(vi) The executive head of the agency to whom the child has been relinquished for adoption, or the state board of charities and reform if the child has been committed to the Wyoming state children's home and has been maintained by...
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