Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, a minor under the age of fourteen years, Birth Father, and the Cherokee Nation is a great view of how the South Carolina Supreme Court interprets ICWA and how ICWA meshes with South Carolina adoption law. Enjoy!
Family Law
ICWA and Adoption Law Part 2 (Involuntary Termination)
In addition to following South Carolina Termination of Parental Right Statutes under Section 63-7-2570 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, as amended, or the Notification Statute under Section 63-9-730 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, as amended to terminate an Indian parent’s rights, the petitioners must follow the requirements of the ICWA.
Specifically…
ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) and Adoption Part 1
If an Indian Child, any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either a member of any Indian tribe or is eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe, is the subject of an adoption then the ICWA applies to the adoption.…
Husband: Presumptive Legal Father
“In South Carolina, there is a common law presumption that a child born during lawful wedlock is a child of the marriage.” Fisher v. Tucker, 388 S.C. 388, 697 S.E.2d 548 (S.C. 2010).
“No judgment of divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall render illegitimate the child begotten of the marriage.” Section 20-3-200…
TPR: Best Interest of the Child
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…
TPR: Clear and Convincing Evidence
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 …
DSS: 15 Months in Foster Care
One of the grounds to terminate a parent’s rights is if the child has spent 15 of the last 22 months in foster care.
The Courts in ruling on this ground for termination of parental rights will need to ask why the child has been in foster care for 15 months and is this delay…
Adoption and the Hague Adoption Convention
The U.S. Department of State explains the Hague Adoption Convention at Understanding the Hague Convention Page. The long and the short of it is that intercountry adoptions amoung Hague Convention Countries are heavily regulated by both the U.S. (which is a Hague Convention Country) and the other Hague Convention Country. One of the requirements is that you will need to work with an…
Dale Dove: A Miracle Worker
Dale Dove has been my mentor in adoption law and life for the past four years; he has taught me quite a bit about both. To get a small taste of Dale’s passion for both the law and life read about his quest to help the McClain family adopt Alyssa before Mr. McClain dies in A Dying Man’s Race…
TPR:According to the Parent’s Means
In South Carolina, a petitioner may ask the court to terminate a parent’s rights if “[t]he child has lived outside the home of either parent for a period of six months, and during that time the parent has wilfully failed to support the child. Failure to support means that the parent has failed to make…