South Carolina Adoption Law Blog : South Carolina Adoption Lawyer & Attorney : Russell Hall Law Firm : Termination of Parental Rights, Relinquishment

In my TPR: Clear and Convincing Evidence, I explained the burden required to terminate a parent's rights. Even if you can overcome that burden, you still need to show that the termination is in the best interest of the child. Trying to define the best interest of the child is like herding cats; I try to figure it out on a case-by-case basis, and I will not attempt to define it in this post.

However, I have noticed as I try cases that the facts I used to overcome the clear and convincing evidence burden are  often enough to show that the termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the child. That coupled with the fact that the folks that are asking for the termination of a parent's rights  generally already have physical custody of the child and are acting as the parent equals a pretty clear decision that termination of parental rights is in the child's best interest. Then again that is only one of many cats that needs to be herded.

James Fletcher Thompson, Esq., penned a chapter on "Best Interest of the Child" standard in his book South Carolina Adoption Law and Practice: A Guide for Attorneys, Certified Investigators, and Families. This book  would be a good starting point for you in understanding the dynamics we call "Best Interest of the Child." Here is a brief review and ordering information.

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Two of the most common grounds I use to terminate the parental rights of an individual when my clients are seeking to adopt a child are willful failure to support the child and willful failure to visit with the child.

Though I may technically have the grounds to terminate the parent's rights, I have to show the judge by clear and convincing evidence that the parent has willfully failed to visit or support the child. What is “clear and convincing evidence?” It is evidence that satisfies the judge that there is a high degree of probability that the elements for the ground to terminate the parental rights of the biological parent are satisfied. 

This burden is fairly easy to prove if the biological parent does not show up for court because my client is the only one presenting testimony and evidence. If I anticipate that the biological parent will show up to court, I ensure that I have enough evidence to overcome the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence.

The most difficult element I have to show in both grounds is the element "willful." I have to keep this in mind when preparing for the trial. It is fairly easy to show whether or not the biological parent supported the child or not. What is more difficult to prove by clear and convincing evidence is whether or not the biological parent willfully failed to support the child. A couple of examples of the facts that helped prove beyond clear and convincing  evidence that the biological parent willfully failed to support the child can be found at this link. This same burden of proof of course also applies to willful failure to visit.

The grounds for TPR are found in Section 63-7-2570 of South Carolina Code of Laws, as amended.

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One of the Court's requirements to finalize an interstate adoption is a letter of compliance from the ICPC office. The last document you should send to the ICPC office prior to your final hearing is the post-placement home study; request your letter of compliance upon submitting the post-placement home study and file the letter with the court prior to the final hearing if time permits. Thereafter, you will not have to worry with obtaining this letter at the last minute. This letter is easy to overlook; don't forget it.

The contact information for the ICPC offices in all fifty states can be found at the AAICPC website which is linked to the blog post below: http://www.southcarolinaadoptionlaw.com/2011/05/articles/adoption/interstate-adoption-1/aaicpc-website/

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http://myrtlebeach.thedigitel.com/event-calendars/sc-state-treasurer-loftis-proclaims-national-adopt-33439-1118

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http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1674665/martina-mcbride-will-host-adoption-special-on-cbs.jhtml

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During this month of celebrating the wonders of adoptions I want to remind fellow attorneys and potential adoptive parents that like other wonderful endeavors adoption has a potentially nasty underbelly. This article describes the content of a new book, FINDING FERNANDA, concerning adoption and human trafficking; the worst of the worst as far a nasty underbellies are concerned. 

I plead with attorneys and potential adoptive parents to be ever vigilant as we proceed with adoption to help stop the abuses described in this book and help ensure that all adoptions will be celebrated as a grand way to allow loving parents to bring deserving children into their home. May our efforts be so great that we never have to hear of such atrocities as are cited in this book again.

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The new location for the South Carolina Adoption Statutes can be found here. Please note that most of my old posts referencing statutes are linked to the old web location; when I click on the links in the old posts, they take me to a page with the following statement:

Error: Resource not found (404)

The web page or resource that you are requesting has been removed or is now located on a different page. Please refer to our home page for the information you want as links may have changed.

On the left of that page you will see a "South Carolina Law" tab; that tab will lead you to the complete list of South Carolina statutes. South Carolina Adoption law is under Title 63, Chapter 9. I will be working on the change over from the old link to the new one  in my older post as time permits.

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Read at about.com to find out what you need to do to claim your tax credit. Please remember that the money spent on the adoption of a spouse's child is considered an unqualified expense, and therefore, you cannot claim the expense for the adoption of your spouse's child for the tax credit.

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