Adotion of: L.A.C., Appeal of: A.G. and B.G.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided March 26, 2021·No. 962 WDA 2020·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

IN RE: ADOPTION OF: L.A.K. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

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APPEAL OF: A.G. AND B.G. : No. 962 WDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered August 27, 2020 in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County Orphans’ Court at No(s): No. 113 of 2019

IN RE: ADOPTION OF: A.L.K. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

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:

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APPEAL OF: A.G. AND B.G. : No. 963 WDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered August 27, 2020 in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County Orphans’ Court at No(s): No. 114 of 2019

BEFORE: DUBOW, J., MURRAY, J. and STRASSBURGER, J.* MEMORANDUM BY DUBOW, J.: FILED: March 26, 2021 A.G. (Mother) and B.G. (Stepfather) (collectively, Petitioners) appeal from the orders entered on August 27, 2020, which denied their petitions to terminate involuntarily the parental rights of C.K. (Father). After review, we reverse and remand.

Mother and Father are former spouses who separated in October 2015 and divorced in January 2017, due to Father’s debilitating alcoholism. N.T., 7/22/2020, at 8-9, 71. They had two children together, L.A.K., born in

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

September 2012, and A.L.K., born in March 2015 (collectively, the Children). Children reside with Mother. Significantly, it is undisputed that Father has not had contact with the Children since January 2016. Id. at 9-14, 43, 48, 55, 63, 74, 87, 111-17, 120-25, 132-35. A March 2016 child custody order provided that Father could exercise supervised partial physical custody of the Children at his own expense, but he never exercised or requested custody pursuant to that order. Id. at 10-12, 34-35, 41-42, 103.

Following her separation from Father, Mother began a relationship with Stepfather. Id. at 17, 35. Mother married Stepfather in July 2019. Id. at 7. Shortly thereafter, on October 23, 2019, Father filed a petition for modification of the March 2016 custody order. Id. at 94-95. Petitioners filed petitions to terminate involuntarily Father’s parental rights to the Children on October 31, 2019, proposing that Stepfather adopt the Children.1 A custody proceeding ensued, resulting in an order that Father could not reenter the Children’s lives pending the resolution of the termination proceeding. Id. at 38-39, 92-96; Respondent’s Exhibit D (December 18, 2019 custody order).

1 According to Petitioners, they had decided to seek involuntary termination of Father’s parental rights by August 2019, but the process became delayed due to L.A.K.’s participation in football. N.T., 7/22/2020, at 20, 56-57. They also explained that Stepfather had a child from a prior relationship, and that they filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of that child’s mother as well, so that Mother could adopt that child. Id. at 21, 25-26, 57. They maintained that the child’s mother was difficult to locate and serve, which further delayed the process of seeking termination as to Father. Id. at 21, 48, 57.

The orphans’ court conducted a hearing on the termination petitions on July 22, 2020, during which Petitioners, Father, and C.K. (Paternal Grandmother) testified.2 In relevant part, Petitioners detailed Father’s failure to contact the Children after January 2016, testifying that he did not see the Children in person, send letters, or call them on the phone. N.T., 7/22/2020, at 9-14, 43, 48, 55, 63. To Petitioners’ knowledge, Father did not even try to contact the Children prior to filing his petition for modification of custody. Id. Petitioners maintained that L.A.K. had only a vague recollection of Father, and that A.L.K. did not remember Father at all. Id. at 22-23, 58. In contrast, they reported that the Children view Stepfather as the sole paternal figure in their lives and refer to him as their father. Id. at 22-25, 55-56, 59.

Father acknowledged that he had not had contact with the Children since January 2016, and that he had not attempted to contact the Children. Id. at 74, 87, 111-17, 120-25, 132-35. Father offered various explanations for this failure, stating first that he did not attempt to call the Children on the phone because Mother “wouldn’t have addressed my calls anyway.” Id. at 74, 114- 15. Father next stated that he did not attempt to contact the Children because he did not want to traumatize them by entering and exiting their lives due to his relapses, and that he wanted to achieve a year of sobriety before reaching out. Id. at 87-88, 115-17, 120-25, 132-34. He asserted that he became

2 The orphans’ court appointed legal counsel and a guardian ad litem (GAL) to represent the Children at the hearing.

sober in October 2018 and filed his petition for modification of custody a year later, in October 2019. Id. at 75, 80, 94-95, 106. Finally, Father maintained that his alcoholism was financially devastating, and that he could not afford the cost of supervised partial physical custody of the Children, or even the cost of sending them a greeting card. Id. at 103-04, 116, 135. Father also presented the testimony of Paternal Grandmother to establish that he appeared to be sober, and that she babysat the Children and occasionally provided Father with pictures and information about them during the time he was absent from their lives. N.T., 7/22/2020, at 139-44.

Following the hearing, on August 27, 2020, the orphans’ court entered an order denying the petitions to terminate involuntarily Father’s parental rights to the Children. Petitioners timely filed separate notices of appeal on September 10, 2020, along with concise statements of errors complained of on appeal.

Petitioners now raise the following claims on appeal.

1. Was clear and convincing evidence presented to show that termination was warranted pursuant to 23 Pa. C.S.[]

[§] 2511(a)(1), 2511(a)(2), and 2511(b)?

2. Did the [orphans’] court err in denying the termination of Father’s parental rights despite clear and convincing evidence that Father’s conduct for at least six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition evidenced a settled purpose of relinquishing parental claim to the child?

3. Did the [orphans’] court err in denying the termination of Father’s parental rights despite clear and convincing evidence that Father’s conduct for at least six months preceding the filing of the

petition evidenced that Father refused [or] failed to perform parental duties?

4. Did the [orphans’] court err in denying the termination of Father’s parental rights despite clear and convincing evidence that the repeated and continued incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal of the parent has caused the child to be without essential parental care, control or subsistence necessary for his physical or mental well-being?

5. Did the [orphans’] court err in denying the termination of Father’s parental rights despite clear and convincing evidence that the causes of Father’s incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal cannot or will not be remedied by Father?

6. Did the [orphans’] court err in denying the termination of Father’s parental rights by failing to give primary consideration to the developmental, physical and emotional needs and welfare of the child?

7. Did the [orphans’] court err in denying the termination of Father’s parental rights by determining that Father’s continued substance abuse issues were an environmental factor beyond Father’s control?

8. Did the [orphans’] court err by failing to give any weight to the recommendations and opinions outlined by the [Children’s] [GAL]

and attorney?

Petitioners’ Brief at 4-6 (suggested answers omitted).3

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Adotion of: L.A.C., Appeal of: A.G. and B.G., (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

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