Relinquishment of Children in Colorado
| Jurisdiction | Colorado,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 15 No. 11 Pg. 2008 |
| Pages | 2008 |
| Publication year | 1986 |
1986, November, Pg. 2008. Relinquishment of Children in Colorado
Under Colorado law parents do not have an unfettered legal right to relinquish (give up) their children. The right to relinquish children exists by statute, which must be carefully followed. The requirements for proper relinquishment are set forth in CRS § 19-4-101 et seq. Any attempt to give up a child, that is, to renounce parental obligations or the rights to be derived therefrom, must comply with the requirements of the relinquishment statute or the relinquishment is without force and effect.(fn1)
This article discusses the relinquishment statute as it relates to the parent-child relationship. It does not deal with the rights of abusive parents; it is assumed that termination of their parental rights will be dealt with in dependency and neglect proceedings.
Even though the court has a duty to consider the parents' concerns and their reasons for relinquishment, it is the interests of the child that are paramount.(fn2) Since "a child has a natural right to the love, companionship, guidance, and support of his natural parents," maintenance of the parent-child relationship that naturally exists between biological parents and their children is presumed to be in a child's best interests.(fn3) One court stated that "children will generally sustain harm when deprived of the emotional benefits from a true parent-child relationship."(fn4)
The statutory right to relinquish was created to facilitate adoption.(fn5) Therefore, relinquishment proceedings in aid of adoption often will be seen by the court as being in the public interest as well as the interests of those immediately concerned--- the child and the natural parents. However, relinquishments that would leave a child a long-term or permanent ward of the state are a different matter.(fn6) Because of its duty to protect the child, a court must examine carefully requests to relinquish that would leave a child without parents and that would consign such children to overburdened and underfinanced state agencies.
In all relinquishment cases, regardless of the underlying purpose to be accomplished, courts also have a statutory obligation to consider the interests of the parents.(fn7) Therefore...
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