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Contested Adoption in Florida
Erik L. Smith
J.C.J. v. Heart of Adoptions, Inc., ___ So.2d ___, 2008 WL 2596365 (Fla.App. 2 Dist.)
The unwed mother did not disclose her pregnancy to the Father. She disclosed the Father's name and address to the Adoption Agency upon making an adoption plan three weeks before the birth. The Agency sent the Father notice of the plan. The Agency advised the Father generally of the Mother's financial needs and sent him a form stating that failure to provide support to the Mother during pregnancy and after the birth could show abandonment.
The Father opposed the adoption and filed a paternity action, including motions for custody and visitation. During the litigation, which lasted four years, the Father never sent support to the Mother and never visited the Child despite the Prospective Adoptive Parents sending the Father updates on the Child's development and their telephone number. The parties stipulated as to the Father's paternity. The court ratified that stipulation, but never heard the custody and visitation motions. Instead, the trial court proceeded with the termination of parental rights (TPR) petition.
The trial court found that the Father abandoned the Child before and after the birth by never visiting the Child or providing financial support.
The Father appealed, arguing that the trial court denied him due process by not recognizing his parent status and refusing to hear his custody and visitation requests. The Father argued that the pre-birth abandonment finding was erroneous because the Mother concealed her pregnancy from him. The Father also argued that the ongoing litigation prevented him from sending support to the Mother.
The Second District Court of Appeals rejected the trial court's finding of pre-birth abandonment, noting that the father had little ability to communicate with the Mother pre-birth and the Mother did not disclose the Father's name to the Agency until three weeks before the birth.1J.C. J., at FN 3.