Opinion ID: 1269966
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: a.'s birth and adoption

Text: Ashby and Kilmer separated shortly after M.A.'s conception. Before their separation, Kilmer informed Ashby that she was pregnant and was considering adoption. Ashby told her that if she did not want to raise the child, he would, and that he would not relinquish his parental rights or consent to an adoption. Before M.A.'s birth, however, he did not register with the biological father registry to receive notice of any intended adoption, nor did he give notice that he objected to an adoption and intended to claim paternity. [3] The two did not see each other or speak again until after the child was born. Kilmer contacted a private adoption agency and, through the agency, selected the Blacks, a married couple living in Alabama, to adopt her child. The day after M.A.'s birth, the Blacks came to Nebraska, and about 2 weeks later, they returned to Alabama with M.A. They commenced adoption proceedings in that state. Washburn represented Kilmer in the private adoption. Because the Blacks lived out of state, Dyer helped in the adoption. Dyer is an adoption specialist with the Department of Health and Human Services and the person charged with assisting out-of-state adoptions under Nebraska's ICPC. According to Dyer, she approves the removal of children from Nebraska for adoption placement in other states. She approves each placement by filling out a form and then forwarding the paperwork approving the placement to her counterpart in the state receiving the child. Dyer stated that she could prevent a child from being placed in another state. Dyer stated that because this was a private adoption, the State has no responsibility to determine whether a putative father has filed a notice of intent to claim custody. According to her, when a State ward is adopted, the State would prepare the adoption paperwork and would check the biological father registry. But because this was a private adoption, Dyer never checked to confirm whether Ashby had registered with the biological father registry or had received notification of the proposed adoption. She noted that even if she had checked, at the time she approved the placement, Ashby had still not registered. Dyer testified that the biological mother's attorney carries the burden to check the registry in private adoptions. Dyer acknowledged that the publication notice she received from Washburn put her on notice that Ashby had until February 12, 2004, to register for paternity. But she claims that because the paperwork also indicated that Washburn had mailed a registered letter to Ashby on January 8, 2004, Ashby perhaps had only 5 business days after January 8 to register. Although she acknowledged that her file lacked a receipt from the letter and that she had no proof that Ashby had actually received the letter, she stated that she had no reason to doubt that Washburn had actually contacted Ashby by mail. Dyer also acknowledged that Washburn had indicated that Ashby was unwilling to agree to the adoption and would not sign the consent to the adoption. She admitted that she normally required a no claim of paternity certificate before allowing children to leave the state when a biological father has not signed the documents allowing the adoption. But she had not received, nor did she require, such certificate from Washburn. Because Dyer knew that Ashby still had time to assert his paternity, she had the Blacks sign an at-risk placement notice that required them to return the child to Nebraska if Ashby asserted his paternity. [4] Dyer testified that although she approves the placement of children outside the state, her duties required only that she execute an at-risk placement form. She contended her duties did not require her to determine whether the biological father has registered with the Department of Health and Human Services' vital records section. Yet, she acknowledged that she has the ultimate power to determine whether a child born in Nebraska may leave the state for a preadoption placement.