Section 27 Abandonment

• Library: Juvenile Law 2011

The juvenile officer or the CD may file a termination of parental rights petition when a child has been abandoned and the child is over the age of one year at the time the petition is filed. Because the law mandates that a termination petition be filed for all abandoned infants one year of age or younger, there is no discretionary ground for abandoned infants.

A child has been abandoned if, for a period of six months or longer, one of the following occurs:

(a) The parent has left the child under such circumstances that the identity of the child was unknown and could not be ascertained, despite diligent searching, and the parent has not come forward to claim the child; or

(b) The parent has, without good cause, left the child without any provision for parental support and without making arrangements to visit or communicate with the child, although able to do so.

Section 211.447.5(1), RSMo Supp. 2010.

The wording of this section clearly does not require a prior adjudication of abandonment, which is arguably necessary under the mandatory filing provision regarding abandonment of infants.

Missouri cases have further defined abandonment as a willful act of the parent that clearly shows an intent to permanently sever the parental relationship. Abandonment is the settled purpose to forgo all parental duties and relinquish all parental claims. In re B.C.H., 718 S.W.2d 158, 162 (Mo. App. W.D. 1986). Abandonment must be:

· a voluntary and intentional relinquishment of the child’s custody to another, with the intent of never again claiming parental rights or performing parental duties; or

· the parent’s intentional withholding—without just cause or excuse—of care, love, and protection.

In re T.C.M., 651 S.W.2d 525, 529 (Mo. App. E.D. 1983). Whether a child has been abandoned is a question of the parent’s intent, which is discovered by an examination of all evidence of the parent’s conduct before and after the period of abandonment. In re B.L.B., 834 S.W.2d 795 (Mo. App. E.D. 1992); In re C.S., 910 S.W.2d 811 (Mo. App. E.D. 1995).

In T.H. v. Ambelang, 497 S.W.2d 210 (Mo. App. E.D. 1973), the court found that the parent’s actions met this definition of abandonment. In 1968, the mother of twin daughters left the children with the paternal grandmother who, because of failing health, turned them over to the Division of Welfare of the DSS. In September 1968, the mother wrote the Division, indicating that she could not provide
a suitable home and offering to sign adoption papers. In July 1971,
the mother indicated some interest in seeing her daughters and
set up numerous appointments with the Division. She kept only
two appointments with the social worker and failed to visit her daughters. The mother’s statement in her letter, coupled with her failure to support or communicate with her children over the next two and one-half years, clearly established abandonment on her part.

Even when a court order prohibits a parent’s physical contact with the child unless therapeutically recommended, abandonment can form the basis for termination when the parent fails to respond to referrals for therapy. In re E.T.C.,141 S.W.3d...