Opinion ID: 1345660
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: substantive requirements of rcw 26.33.120(1)

Text: In 1984, the Washington State Legislature replaced the then existing adoption code, RCW 26.32, with a reorganized code, RCW 26.33, effective January 1, 1985. The Legislature sought to retain the same features of the old code while eliminating duplicative or contradictory provisions. This is the first reported case utilizing RCW 26.33.120(1) to terminate parental rights. That statute provides: the parent-child relationship of a parent may be terminated upon a showing by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that it is in the best interest of the child to terminate the relationship and that the parent has failed to perform parental duties under circumstances showing a substantial lack of regard for his or her parental obligations and is withholding consent to adoption contrary to the best interest of the child. (Italics ours.) The language of the current statute differs in several respects from its predecessor, former RCW 26.32.056 (1979), which stated: In the case of a petition filed by a parent and joined by the petitioner's spouse seeking termination with respect to the other parent, and such other parent appears and contests the termination, the court shall determine whether such parent has deserted or abandoned the child under circumstances showing a wilful substantial lack of regard for parental obligations. If the court makes such a finding, it shall terminate his rights to the child. (Italics ours.) In revising the stepparent adoption section, the Legislature explicitly stated that the termination decision must be supported by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. [2] In addition, the new provision omitted the terms deserted, abandoned and wilful. Appellant argues that the Legislature's deletion of those terms altered the standard for determining when to terminate the parental rights of a natural parent rendering the statute insufficient to meet the requirements of due process. A review of the legislative history, however, indicates that the Legislature intended that the standard developed under former RCW 26.32.056 continues to apply despite the revision of the statutory language. The Legislature did not explain why it deleted those terms; however, a memorandum of January 3, 1983, from the House Judiciary Committee discussing the bill gives us an explanation. The standards for termination of parental rights are established and made the same for both parents and alleged fathers. The burden of proof is not currently set forth in the adoption statute. With respect to a parent who has established paternity, state and federal courts require proof by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that a parent is unfit to rear children before parental rights may be terminated. .. . This bill sets the standard of proof to terminate parental rights as clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that the parent failed to perform parental duties showing a substantial lack of regard for parental obligations. (Italics ours.) A memorandum from the counsel for the House Judiciary Committee on October 6, 1983, summarizing the changes in the adoption code stated: Section 9. This section combines in one place the provisions for terminating the parent-child relationship. The standard for a parent is similar to that set in the juvenile code. RCW 13.34.030, 13.34.180. Although section 9 relates to termination of the parental rights of alleged fathers, as stated above, the new chapter made the standards for terminating the rights of parents and alleged fathers the same. The juvenile code sections cited relate to the termination of parental rights of dependent children. Reviewing the termination of parental rights under the dependency statute, RCW 13.34.180, the Court of Appeals recently held that [t]he termination decision must be predicated upon present parental unfitness. In re Moseley, 34 Wn. App. 179, 180-87 & n. 4, 660 P.2d 315, review denied, 99 Wn.2d 1018 (1983). While the Colorado parental rights termination statute explicitly requires a finding of parental unfitness, In re A.M.D. [648 P.2d 625 (Colo. 1982)], supra at 637, Washington's statute implicitly requires such a finding. Even after the entry of a dependency order, if a parent is not shown to be unfit at the time of the parental rights termination proceeding, termination is improper. Krause v. Catholic Comm'ty Servs., 47 Wn. App. 734, 742, 737 P.2d 280, review denied, 108 Wn.2d 1035 (1987). In In re Adoption of Tryon, 27 Wn. App. 842, 621 P.2d 775 (1980), the court addressed a petition for termination of parental rights brought under an earlier version of the adoption code requiring a showing of parental desertion or abandonment. When setting forth the proof required to establish abandonment, the court cited to an earlier case brought under RCW 13.34.180 and noted Although In re Hagen, 21 Wn. App. 169, 584 P.2d 446 (1978) was a parent deprivation case under RCW 13.34, In re Adoption of Gargan, 21 Wn. App. 423, 587 P.2d 545 (1978), noted that the requirements for dispensing with consent are the same in deprivation cases as in adoption cases. In re Adoption of Tryon, 27 Wn. App. at 845 n. 2. Those cases illustrate that the courts based their decision of whether to terminate parental rights upon a finding of parental unfitness, regardless of which statutory scheme was employed. The language of former RCW 26.32.056 established that standard by requiring the court to find that the parent deserted or abandoned the child under circumstances showing a wilful substantial lack of regard for parental obligations. In all of the former RCW 26.32.056 parental rights termination cases reported, the court made a specific finding on the issue of abandonment or desertion by the parent. [1, 2] Aware of the case law developed under former RCW 26.32.056, the Legislature drafted a new provision governing the termination of parental rights in adoption cases. As evidenced by the legislative history quoted above, the House Judiciary Committee was concerned with setting forth the requisite standard of proof within the text of the statute. Although the Committee deleted the operative language used by the courts to guide their termination decisions, the intent of the Legislature was to retain the same substantive standard that had been developed under the previous statute and case law. Accordingly, we hold that under RCW 26.33.120(1), in order for the court to terminate the parental rights of a nonconsenting parent, it must find parental unfitness on the part of the nonconsenting parent. Parental unfitness is established by showing that the nonconsenting parent has failed to perform parental duties under circumstances showing a substantial lack of regard for his or her parental obligations ....