Ex parte J.E. (In re J.E. v. V.C.E.)

Summary

The Alabama Supreme Court reversed and remanded a judgment terminating a father's parental rights. The Court held that the district court properly considered factors under Alabama Code § 26-18-7(b), but erred in finding that the father had voluntarily relinquished his parental rights solely because he failed to seek reinstatement of suspended visitation. The Court also addressed the requirement to consider viable alternatives to termination, including in abandonment cases.

Holdings

1. A court may consider the factors listed in § 26-18-7(b) when evaluating termination of a noncustodial parent's parental rights, even when the child is physically residing with the custodial parent.
2. A parent's failure to seek reinstatement of court-suspended visitation does not, without evidence of an intent to surrender parental rights, establish voluntary relinquishment or abandonment by voluntary relinquishment.
3. The reversal did not preclude the district court from reconsidering whether clear and convincing evidence established abandonment on a basis other than voluntary relinquishment, or whether the father was otherwise unable or unwilling to provide for the child's needs.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court properly considered the factors in Ala. Code 1975, § 26-18-7(b), when the child was in the physical custody of the custodial parent rather than the noncustodial parent.
2. Whether the father's failure to petition for reinstatement of court-suspended visitation constituted a voluntary relinquishment or abandonment of his parental rights.
3. Whether the district court's termination judgment could stand when its abandonment finding was based on an unsupported conclusion that the father had voluntarily relinquished his parental rights.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded