A Georgia superior court can terminate a parent’s rights over that parent’s objection, but proving a statutory ground is only half the job.
Two Courts, Two Routes
Termination happens in two courts. The State brings dependency cases in juvenile court under the Juvenile Code, OCGA Title 15, Chapter 11. A private petitioner asks a superior court for “[a] superior court order terminating parental rights in an adoption proceeding.” OCGA 19-7-1(b)(8). This post is about that second route.
An indigent parent facing termination in juvenile court has a statutory right to appointed counsel. OCGA 15-11-262. Georgia has not extended it to the superior court route. Steele v. Steele, 346 Ga. App. 196 (2018).
The Grounds
OCGA 19-8-10(a) dispenses with a surrender on clear and convincing evidence that (1) the parent abandoned the child, (2) the parent cannot be found after a diligent search, (3) the parent is “insane or otherwise incapacitated from surrendering such rights,” (4) the parent conceived the child by nonconsensual sexual intercourse, or (5) the parent “without justifiable cause, has failed to exercise proper parental care or control due to misconduct or inability.”
Proving a Ground Is Not Enough
The petitioner bears “the burden to prove that termination of the parental rights is warranted, including the lack of justifiable cause,” and the court must separately find that the adoption is in the child’s best interests. Steele, 346 Ga. App. 196.
In Newlin v. Adamar, 363 Ga. App. 456 (2022), a great-uncle and great-aunt raising their great-nephew proved that the father had failed without justifiable cause to communicate with the child and the mother had failed to support him. The trial court denied the adoption anyway. The mother had by then been sober nearly two years, was working, had remarried, and wanted to rejoin the child’s life gradually. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!