Using The Law To Bring Families Together
PRESS RELEASE
Indian Child Welfare Act Panel to be Held at University of South Carolina School of Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2013
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Victoria Middleton
Executive Director,
ACLU of SC
843-720-1424
aclu_sc@aclusouthcarolina.org
Dr. Marcia Zug
Professor, University of
South Carolina School of
Law
803-777-3615
zug@law.sc.edu
Chief Bill Harris
Catawba Indian…
Terminating a parent’s rights or taking his consent and relinquishment without a pending adoption primarily occurs in DSS cases. The Court approving a Consent and Relinquishment or terminating a parent’s rights without a pending adoption is rare in private actions. The person would have had to have done something egregious to warrant a Court terminating…
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!
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…
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.…
“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…
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…
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 …
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…
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…