Have Natural Parents Abandoned the Child Prior to TPR?

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The prong of finding “no viable alternative” is often pretty hairy in TPR trials. However, it’s a little known fact that finding “no viable alternatives” is not necessary in cases where the natural parent has abandoned the child. This means that the paternal grandmother or maternal aunt or paternal great-aunt might be the best citizens ever to live under the cross of St. Andrew; if the natural parent has abandoned the child the juvenile court and DHR should instruct them simply keep walking.

To put this in cut-and-paste format for the professionals:

  • It is well established that when a parent has abandoned a child, it is not necessary for a party seeking to terminate parental rights to demonstrate that there is no viable alternative to adoption. D.M. v. Jefferson County DHR, 232 So. 3d 237, 242 (Ala. Civ. App. 2017); C.F. v. State DHR, 218 So. 3d 1246, 1251 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016).