2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 10. Children › §10-7501-1.3. Definitions.

As used in the Oklahoma Adoption Code:
1. “Abandonment” includes, but is not limited to, the following:
a.
the parent has left the minor alone or in the care of another who is not the parent of the minor without identifying the minor or furnishing a means of identification for the minor, the whereabouts of the parents are unknown, and the minor's identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable diligence,
b.
the parent has voluntarily left the minor alone or in the care of another who is not the parent of the minor and expressed a willful intent by words, actions, or omissions not to return for the minor, or
c.
the parent fails to maintain a substantial and positive relationship with the minor for a period of six (6) consecutive months out of the last fourteen (14) months immediately preceding the filing of a petition for termination of parental rights. For purposes of this section, “establish and/or maintain a substantial, positive relationship” includes but is not limited to:
(1)
frequent and regular contact with the minor through frequent and regular visitation or frequent, regular communication to or with the minor, and
(2)
exercising parental rights and responsibilities. Incidental or token visits or communications shall not be sufficient to establish or maintain a substantial and positive relationship with the minor.
The term "abandonment" shall not include when a parent has relinquished a minor to or placed the minor in the custody of a licensed child-placing agency or other court-appointed individual;
2. "Adoptee" means an individual who is adopted or is to be adopted;
3. "Adult" means an individual who has attained eighteen (18) years of age;
4. "Minor" means any person who has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years;
5. "Child-placing agency" means any child welfare agency licensed pursuant to the Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing Act and authorized to place minors for adoption;
6. "Contested proceeding" means any proceeding pursuant to the Oklahoma Adoption Code in which an interested party enters an appearance to contest the petition;
7. "Department" means the Department of Human Services;
8. "Direct placement adoption" means any adoption in which the minor is not placed for adoption by the Department of Human Services or a child-placing agency. A stepparent or relative adoption shall not be considered a direct placement adoption;
9. "Guardian" means an individual, other than a parent, appointed by a court to be the guardian of the person of a minor;
10. "Parent" means an individual who is the biological or adoptive parent of a child or who is legally recognized as a mother or father of a child. The term "parent" does not include an individual whose parental relationship to a child has been terminated;
11. "Permanent relinquishment" means the voluntary surrender of the rights of the parent or guardian with respect to a minor, including legal and physical custody of the minor, to a child-placing agency, Department of Human Services or any person with the assent of the court, by a minor's parent or guardian, for purposes of the minor's adoption;
12. "Putative father" means the father of a minor born out of wedlock or a minor whose mother was married to another person at the time of the birth of the minor or within the ten (10) months prior to the birth of the minor and includes, but is not limited to, a man who has acknowledged or claims paternity of a minor, a man named by the mother of the minor to be the father of the minor, or any man who is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman during a possible time of conception;
13. “Relative adoption” means the placement of a child for adoption with a parent, grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister, first cousin, nephew, niece, uncle or aunt, who is related to the child by either birth or marriage;
14. "State" means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; and
15. "Stepparent" means an individual who is the spouse or surviving spouse of a parent of a minor, but who is not a legal parent of the minor.
Added by Laws 1957, p. 22, § 1. Amended by Laws 1996, c. 297, § 2, emerg. eff. June 10, 1996; Laws 1997, c. 366, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1997. Renumbered from Title 10, § 60.1 by Laws 1997, c. 366, § 58, eff. Nov. 1, 1997. Amended by Laws 2001, c. 434, § 6, emerg. eff. June 8, 2001; Laws 2002, c. 445, § 8, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2011, c. 371, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2011.