Lizzy's termination trial is on January 12th. I am getting so excited/nervous. Her bio mom called me when she got served with papers to appear in court that day. I am pretty sure she isn't going to come. She had all sorts of excuses about how she can't get a ride and the court/agency won't provide her with one.
This makes me wonder...if she is not there to sign over her rights do they just take them away (if they decide to) or what happens?
I can't imagine that her legal dad will come...but, at the same time I will be shocked if he doesn't. He is very good at showing up at the last hour just to make things harder.
We shall see...
9 comments:
It won't matter if she is there or not, it will just be further proof that she is not a fit parent. It is a trial. The state will present a case about why rights need to be terminated. The parents' attorneys will present their case. The judge will make a decision. But be aware if rights are terminated there could be an appeal, which could take months to go through. Adopting from foster care is not easy! Wishing you the best.
Idk if its different with foster care or not- but My husband and I pursued termination of parental rights and adoption of his biological kids, the day of court came and the bio mother didnt show of course- the judge took that as obviously she doesnt care so he terminated her rights and I adopted my children. I hope for the best for you!
From our experience, I would say that the chances of the termination not going through is about nil and whether or not either parent shows will not affect the outcome. There would have had to be some HUGE late in the game efforts by the parent to correct everyone of their problems. Hasn't happened. To late.
If mom doesn't show, they will terminate her rights and that doesn't need her agreement.
As far as appeals go, also not likely in this case. They have 2 weeks to file for an appeal. Their court appointed layers services are dismissed in the judge's final statements about the termination. That means parents have to have a lot of gumption on their own to appeal.
In our state, the first hearing is an initial hearing. If there is proper service on the parents and they do not show, then DCS and CASA present evidence and the TPR is granted. If a parent does show up at the hearing, they have the right to ask for an attorney. If they do, then the case is set with a new date for a Fact Finding Hearing (trial).
Although counsel is dismissed following the trial, the public defenders here ALWAYS advise the parents to file paperwork with the court for an Appeal, which generally takes another six months to resolve. I pray that Lizzy's parents do not show up for court and that the TPR can be granted that day.
In our state, the same state that Mama Foster lives in, the parents have attorneys appointed at the very beginning of the case if they can't afford one. So parents have attorneys all of the way through their case. Showing up at this hearing won't have an effect on when a final decision is made. There is very little possibility that this case could be continued. It would be highly unlikely.
Appeals must filed within 2 weeks in this state and are normally disposed of quickly. I have never heard of a case dragging out for months once there is termintion.
Isn't it interesting how different things are from state to state?
Praying everything goes well for you lady!!!
it is very interesting how different it is in every state. hearing that some kids don't have their own GAL or that parents don't have a lawyer from day one was very surprising to me just because that is not how it has ever worked with any of my kids.
in the case of the little boy we almost adopted here in the state we lived in, his mom appealed and appealed and appealed as high up as she could BUT the whole time the state worked on getting him adopted regardless of her appeals because they "knew"/assumed that the judge or any judge would over turn the original decision. Apparently where I live the parents can go ahead and appeal, but the child's case keeps moving regardless of these appeals.
So you have bottles and bottles of heart burn medicine right, because I'd be extremely stressed if I were you.
Hoping and praying for the best on the 12th.
We had one case that went to termination and mom didn't bother to show up. The judge terminated her rights that day even though she wasn't there. She was depressed about the whole thing so she went out of town the day before and didn't tell anyone. Her family and her attorney were livid that she didn't show up. It really wouldn't have mattered if she showed up or not though, the judge would have terminated her rights anyway.
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