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MAINE: Adoption of Lily T.
07.15.2010 | Termination of Parental Rights
The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine affirmed the probate court’s judgment terminating appellant-father’s parental rights, holding that the probate court did not err in finding that appellant-father was unfit due to abandoning his child and being unable or unwilling to take responsibility for the child, and that termination was in the child’s best interest. The supreme court noted that a parent who is prohibited from contacting his child pursuant to a “protection from abuse order” may be found to have abandoned the child if he fails to make an effort to contact or demonstrate intent to parent using the means available. Here, the court found that the father had not actively sought legal means of contacting or developing a relationship with the child and, although he violated protection orders by contacting the mother, he had never seen or asked about the child or attempted to send a card or gift. Further, the court held that termination of the appellant-father’s parental rights was in the child’s best interest because her mother and stepfather had been able to meet all of her financial, physical, and emotional needs, while the father had not adequately addressed his admitted drug abuse and domestic violence issues.
Cite: No. Lin-09-553, 2010 ME 58; 2010 Me. LEXIS 58 (Me. July 1, 2010)
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