Opinion ID: 2320373
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Pay Child Support

Text: Although a warrant for defendant's arrest for failure to pay child support was issued on December 2, 1997, defendant was not apprehended for more than two years until he was arrested at his home on May 24, 2000. The defe ndant was gainfully employed and living in an apartment in North Kingstown. A criminal information charging defendant with one count of failure to pay child support in violation of § 11-2-1.1 was filed on August 7, 2000. Included in the information was a statement by defendant's former wife in which she informed the investigator that defendant's parental rights previously had been terminated. However, no further investigation was undertaken. The defendant's plight was compounded by the court's failure to provide him with counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We are informed that upon his arrest and incarceration, defendant wrote to the Chief Judge of the Family Court and notified him that his parental rights to his children had been terminated in 1994. This communication was referred to the Court's legal counsel who responded that she was unable to find an order verifying the termination and that defendant, therefore, was responsible for the child support. However, aided by counsel, at a hearing on Fritz's continued incarceration because of lack of bail, the fact that his parental rights had been terminated was instantly verified by the clerk through a simple telephone call to the Family Court juvenile office. Upon verification that defendant's parental rights had been terminated, he was released on $10,000 personalrecognizance. The defendant subsequently moved to dismiss the information, asserting that the state failed to present a prima facie case. [7] As in every termination case in this state, the decree of termination resulted from a petition, filed by the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), alleging that the children had been abused by their father. Significantly, in Rhode Island, unlike many jurisdictions, parental rights can be terminated only upon petition of a go vernmental child placement agency or licensed child placement agency after notice to the parent and a hearing on the petition   . G.L. 1956 § 15-7-7(a). Thus, a voluntary termination of parental rights cannot occur at the instance of a recalcitrant parent who wishes to be relieved of his or her child support responsibilities. An individual may not bring a petition to terminate his or her own parental rights unless there is pending a petition for adoption of the child. In re John, 605 A.2d 486, 488-89 (R.I.1992). The record in this case discloses that a complaint alleging abuse of the children was filed against this defendant, and the children were placed in the custody of DCYF with physical placement with the mother. At some later point, defendant, with the assistance of counsel, elected not to contest the petition and voluntarily consented to DCYF's termination petition. A hearing was held by a justice of the Family Court during which defendant testified that he was freely and voluntarily consenting to the termination of his parental rights. At theconclusion of the hearing, the hearing justice declared that defendant's parental rights permanently were terminated and appointed DCYF as guardian of the children. The right of the father to give or withhold consent to their adoption and to be given notice of an adoption also was extinguished. I am satisfied that this proceeding resulted in the complete severance of the parent-child relationship and that the rights of both defendant and the children were considered and finally determined. Accordingly, I am of the opinion that defendant's obligation to continue to support these children ended when he relinquished his parental rights. In his written decision dismissing the criminal information, the Family Court hearing justice found that defendant had relinquished his right to parent his children and all that is encompassed with that responsibility, as well as his right to give or withhold consent to their adoption. Pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 15-7.2-2, it is the policy of this state that adoption is based upon the legal termination of parental rights and responsibilities of birth parents and the creation of the legal relationship of parents and child between an adoptee and the adoptive parents. He concluded that an adoption cannot occur until there has been a termination of the natural parent's rights and responsibilities to the child. Thus, I believe that the termination of parental rights also extinguishes one's parental responsibilities, including the responsibility to support the children; otherwise the children are not available for adoption and the parent-child relationship, at least concerning maintenance and support, has not been severed. I am of the opinion that the decision of the majority creates an anomalous situation in which the parental relationship is not terminated by decree of the Family Court and a parent who is obliged to continue to support a child has a due process right to notice of the child's adoption so that his or her support obligations can be discontinued. Further, in cases such as the one before us, in which the children remain with their mother, the amount of support due from each parent changes from time to time.Since the financial resources of both parents must be considered in fixing the amount of child support, a parent has the right to petition the Family Court for a modification of child support based upon a change in circumstances. These proceedings necessarily will involve further entanglements between the parties, a situation I suggest that is not in the best interests of the children. In my opinion, this is an absurd result that frustrates the intent of the Legislature as clearly expressed in § 15-7-7(a) that the termination of parental rights includes the termination of  any and all legal rights of the parent to the child, including the right to notice of any subsequent adoption proceedings involving the child   . (Emphases added.) The record discloses that DCYF does not seek child support from parents whose children have been placed in its custody. Indeed, it was acknowledged that the state does not seek support from parents whose children are in state custody and routinely vacates any arrearages that have accrued from the date the termination petition was filed. I agree that this policy comports with the best interests of the child. Because adoption and the termination of parental rights were unknown to the common law, this entire body of law is statutory. It is axiomatic that statutes in derogation of the common law are strictly construed. A statute that provides for the termination of parental rights has an impact upon a protected liberty interest of the parent to the child and has significant consequences to the parent who is deprived of the right to associate with his or her own child. In re John, 605 A.2d at 488. Accordingly, these statutes are strictly construed, and this Court will not read into the statute conditions that are not expressly set forth therein. Id. With respect to terminations pursuant to § 15-7-6, the primary inquiry undertaken by the court is whether the surrender of parental rights is voluntary and in the best interests of the child   . In re Kyle S., 692 A.2d 329, 332 (R.I.1997). However, whether the termination of parental rights iseffectuated pursuant to §§ 15-7-5, 15-7-6 or 15-7-7, the Legislative intent is the same, to provide children who are in need with permanent and safe placement. In re Kyle S., 692 A.2d at 332. In my opinion, if the Legislature intended to require a parent to support his or her children after a decree permanently terminating the parent-child relationship, it would have done so in clear and unequivocal language. This Court has recognized the salient purpose of § 15-7-6 is to provide for the voluntary termination of parental rights without regard to the question of parental unfitness. We have declined to construe chapter 7 of title 15 in such a way as to discourage the voluntary termination of parental rights. See In re Kyle S., 692 A.2d at 333 (previous voluntary termination of parental rights may not serve as the basis of a later involuntary termination petition). In my opinion, the construction placed upon this chapter by the majority, holding that a parent who voluntarily relinquishes his or her rights to a child still is obliged to support that child, will have the unwarranted effect of discouraging voluntary terminations that may otherwise be in a child's best interests. It should be emphasized that in this case we have not been asked to address the rights of the children. The best interests of the children were specifically addressed and decided by the Family Court hearing justice who, based on a petition filed by a state child protective agency, ordered the termination of defendant's rights to his children. The rights of the children to live in a safe and nurturing environment without their father's influence and participation were judicially and finally adjudicated in 1994. I disagree with the majority that the children have any residual rights with respect to their father, save for the right to inherit. The General Assembly has provided that the only right a child possesses after the termination of the parent-child relationship is the right to inherit from his or her natural parents pursuant to § 15-7-17. I suggest that if the General Assembly wanted to afford these children any other rights, including the right tosupport, it would have expressly done so, particularly since termination decrees cannot arise from divorce proceedings. An overwhelming majority of states have recognized that a parent's duty to support a child is extinguished by operation of law upon the termination of his or her parental rights. This concept rests upon the fairly uniform belief that [a] person who has relinquished parental rights through adoption, a voluntary termination of parental rights or an involuntary severance of parental rights is no longer a parent. State ex rel. Secretary of Social and Rehabilitation Services v. Clear, 248 Kan. 109, 804 P.2d 961, 967 (1991). Thus, [t]he parent whose rights have been [permanently] severed is relieved of all duties and obligations to the child. Id. Indeed, I am hard-pressed to find a single jurisdiction that approaches the position taken by the majority today. I believe that in the absence of explicit legislation to the contrary, Rhode Island should join the majority of states that recognize, as did the Family Court hearing justice, that parental responsibilities flow from the existence of parental rights and a termination decree results in the dissolution of the parent-child relatio nship and all that it entails. I also reject, as legally incorrect, the fear expressed by the majority that recalcitrant parents would line up to voluntarily terminate their rights simply to avoid child support. First, parents cannot get in line without an invitation from the state. As noted, in this jurisdiction, only a child protection agency such as DCYF can petition for the termination of a parent's rights, whether the petition is voluntary or involuntary. Second, the overarching issue to be decided by the Family Court hearing justice is what is in the child's best interests. Significantly, there has been no suggestion that Fritz agreed to the termination of his parental rights to avoid child support. These proceedings were initiated by an abuse complaint prosecuted by DCYF. Contrary to the fears expressed by the majority, numerous states that have addressed this question simply have refused to allow a termination based on the desire of a parent to escape his or her child support responsibilities. Indeed, some states, including the State of Connecticut, permit a parent to petition for the termination of his or her parental rights even in the absence of a pending adoption. However, no state permits a termination simply to avoid child support obligations. Because it is universally recognized that a termination extinguishes the parent's obligation to support the child, courts closely examine these petitions with a view toward the child's best interests. In re Bruce R., 662 A.2d 107, 112 (1995). In jurisdictions that allow a parent to petition for the voluntarily termination of his or her parental rights, the desire to avoid support responsibilities is an insufficient ground for granting a petition; the test is always the best interests of the child. See, e.g., Ex parte Brooks, 513 So.2d 614, 616 (Ala. 1987) (termination of parental rights statutes are not means for a parent to avoid his obligation to support his child); In re K.L.S., 350 S.E.2d 50, 51 (Ga.Ct.App. 1986) (statutory authority of the juvenile court to entertain [voluntary] petitions to terminate parental rights does not extend to petitions by parents seeking judicial imprimatur to abandon their parental responsibilities); In re Interest of D.W.K., 365 N.W.2d 32, 35 (Iowa 1985) (father's termination petition denied where termination would ultimately    open a hatch for a parent to escape his or her duty to support a child); In re Welfare of Alle, 230 N.W.2d 574, 577 (Minn. 1975) (children have a right to look to their legal father for support and father's rights may not be terminated to avoid support); In re Interest of R.A.S., 826 S.W.2d 397, 399 (Mo.Ct.App. 1992) (consensual termination petition denied where evidence showed that father sought to avoid his support obligation); R.H. v. M.K., 603 A.2d 995, 997 (N.J.Super.Ct.Ch.Div. 1991) (parent may not voluntarily surrender his or her parental rights other than in adoption contest); Commonwealth Department of Public Welfare ex rel. Hager v.Woolf, 419 A.2d 535, 538 (Pa.Super.Ct. 1980) (parent may not seek to avoid support obligation by the mere filing of a petition to terminate parental rights); In re Interest of A.B., 444 N.W.2d 415, 419 (Wis.Ct.App. 1989) (support obligation of the father to be considered as one of the considerations in determining the best interests of the child in cases of consensual termination). Thus, in my opinion, it is absurd to suggest that a trial court, upon the petition of a state agency, ever will terminate a parent's rights simply to relieve the parent of his or her child support responsibilities. An overwhelming number of jurisdictions have recognized that the termination of parental rights also extinguishes the obligation to support the child. Even in states that permit a parent to seek termination, courts conduct a searching inquiry into the best interests of the child and deny a request for voluntary termination in cases in which a parent seeks to avoid child support; no parent may blithely walk away from his or her parental responsibilities. In re Interest of A.B., 444 N.W.2d at 419. That is certainly not what happened here.