W.A.S. v. A.L.G.

Summary

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the termination of a biological father's parental rights and the adoption of his child by the child's mother's husband. The court held that a single statutory ground under Mississippi Code section 93-15-103(3) may support termination, and it found clear and convincing evidence of the father's prolonged absence and substantial erosion of the parent-child relationship. The court also concluded that adoption by the stepfather served the child's best interests.

Holdings

1. Mississippi Code section 93-15-103(3) permits termination of parental rights when clear and convincing evidence establishes any one of the statute's enumerated grounds; multiple statutory grounds are not required.
2. Termination of a natural parent's rights requires clear and convincing proof that the parent abandoned or deserted the child or is mentally, morally, or otherwise unfit to rear or train the child, followed by consideration of the child's best interest.
3. The chancellor did not commit manifest error in finding by clear and convincing evidence that Simpson failed to contact Sam for more than one year, that his prolonged and unreasonable absence substantially eroded their relationship, and that termination and adoption were in Sam's best interest.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Mississippi law required the chancellor to apply a totality-of-the-circumstances test rather than rely on one or more statutory grounds for terminating parental rights.
2. Whether clear and convincing evidence supported termination of the natural father's parental rights under Mississippi Code section 93-15-103(3)(b) and (f).
3. Whether termination and the stepparent adoption served the child's best interest.

Disposition

affirmed