In the Matter of the Parental Rights as to K.D.L. and S.P.K.; Richard J.K., a/k/a Richard Jay K. v. The State of Nevada, Division of Child and Family Services, Department of Human Resources

Summary

The Supreme Court of Nevada affirmed the termination of Richard J.K.'s parental rights as to K.D.L. and S.P.K. The court held that clear and convincing evidence supported the children's best interests and parental fault based on domestic-violence convictions, parental unfitness, and failure of parental adjustment, and that incarceration was not the sole basis for termination.

Holdings

1. The district court properly found by clear and convincing evidence that termination of Richard's parental rights served K.D.L.'s and S.P.K.'s best interests, and Richard failed to rebut the statutory presumption favoring termination after the children had spent fourteen months of a twenty-month period outside the home.
2. Clear and convincing evidence supported the district court's finding that Richard was an unfit parent under NRS 128.106(6).
3. The district court properly found by clear and convincing evidence that Richard failed to adjust as a parent.
4. Incarceration alone cannot support termination of parental rights, but termination was proper here because the district court relied on Richard's violent criminal conduct, failure to change, and the danger he posed to the children in addition to his incarceration.

Questions Presented

1. Whether clear and convincing evidence established that termination of Richard's parental rights served the children's best interests.
2. Whether clear and convincing evidence established parental fault through parental unfitness and failure of parental adjustment.
3. Whether Richard's incarceration was improperly treated as the sole basis for termination of his parental rights.

Disposition

affirmed