Adventist Adoption & Family Services v. Perry

641 P.2d 178, 31 Wash. App. 268, 1982 Wash. App. LEXIS 2520
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 17, 1982
Docket4662-1-III
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 641 P.2d 178 (Adventist Adoption & Family Services v. Perry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adventist Adoption & Family Services v. Perry, 641 P.2d 178, 31 Wash. App. 268, 1982 Wash. App. LEXIS 2520 (Wash. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinions

Green, J.

On March 20, 1981, a child was born to Claudia Perry. On March 24, outside the presence of the court, she signed a consent form relinquishing her child to the Adventist Adoption and Family Services agency in Pasco. Minutes later it was approved by the court at a relinquishment hearing, without the presence of a court reporter. On April 6, Miss Perry moved to revoke the relinquishment. This motion was granted and the agency appeals.

The agency contends the court erred in concluding Miss Perry's relinquishment was obtained under circumstances amounting to fraud. It is argued this conclusion is not supported by the record and is a misapplication of the law. The agency further asserts the. court was prejudiced in Miss Perry's favor and, therefore, abused its discretion in granting her motion to revoke the relinquishment. We affirm.

The agency has not assigned error to any specific findings of fact as required by RAP 10.3(g). Consequently, the findings become the established facts and our review must be limited to whether they support the conclusions of law and judgment. Xerox Corp. v. King County, 94 Wn.2d 284, 617 P.2d 412 (1980); In re Santore, 28 Wn. App. 319, 323, 623 P.2d 702 (1981); Morgan v. Irving, 8 Wn. App. 354, 506 P.2d 316 (1973). Although there is conflicting evidence in the record, it is not our function to substitute our evaluation of factual issues for that of the trial court. Davis v. [270]*270Department of Labor & Indus., 94 Wn.2d 119, 124, 615 P.2d 1279 (1980). In any event, our review of the record indicates there is sufficient evidence to support the findings.

The trial court found Miss Perry, a single woman, was 28 years old, a resident of Pontiac, Michigan, and a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. In the fourth month of her pregnancy she consulted a Michigan physician who was also a member of the church. On her first appointment, and during continued visits, the physician encouraged her to place her child with the Adventist adoption agency in Pasco, Washington, the only Adventist agency in the nation. Eventually she agreed. The physician then contacted the agency, which supplied her with certain forms that she completed and returned.

Miss Perry traveled to Pasco at the agency's expense where she was met by an agency member. She was housed with a lady who was a member of the Adventist church and, during the following 8 weeks, attended Adventist church services and social events. All her expenses were paid by the agency and she was counseled on a regular basis by agency counselors. The counselors, who were not attorneys, gave essentially all the legal advice she received.

On March 20, Miss Perry began labor and made a prearranged call to the agency who was to send a member to the hospital to assist in her delivery. On March 24, after her child was born, she signed a relinquishment form in the presence of the agency's attorney and an agency employee. Immediately thereafter a relinquishment hearing was held without a court reporter in the judge's chambers. At that hearing, the court merely inquired whether the agency attorney had fully explained Miss Perry's rights and she acknowledged he had.

Miss Perry returned to Michigan on Wednesday, March 25, the day after she signed the relinquishment. On Monday, April 6,1 she contacted counsel for legal advice and a [271]*271motion was filed to set aside the relinquishment order. She also moved to restrain the agency from placing the child for adoption pending final determination of her motion.

The court additionally found that while Miss Perry was living within the agency environment, she

became engulfed in an environment, the purpose of which was the relinquishment of the Petitioner’s child.
... [She] repeatedly threatened to return to Michigan but was encouraged to remain and receive additional counseling which [she] did. There was substantial indecision by [her] but such indecision was overcome by repeated counseling encouraging [her] to relinquish her child.
... [I]t was explained to [her] during one of her counseling sessions, prior to [her] executing the relinquishment of her parental rights, that another mother handled by the Agency had changed her mind seven months after the relinquishment, and successfully reacquired her child.
. . . [N] either the Agency or its agents or any one else ever fully and clearly explained to [her] her right to retain her child and return to Michigan.
. . . [She] was in an environment unfamiliar and away from her family and friends, and . . . every member of that environment was committed to [her] relinquishing the minor child.
. . . [She] never received independent-counsel regarding her legal rights relative to the relinquishment and her options regarding the relinquishment were never adequately explained to her.
. . . [T]he environment in which [she] was placed for over eight weeks created an influence which was overpowering and suggestive of no options regarding relinquishment.
. . . [S]aid environment created an atmosphere of repayment without option, i.e., for all of [her] expenses being paid she would relinquish the minor child.

Based on these findings, the court concluded

[272]*272the execution of the Relinquishment and Surrender of the Minor Child was obtained without legal advice, without knowledge of Petitioner's options relative thereto and under circumstances which amounted to fraud, and/or overreaching and/or duress.

The court declared the relinquishment void and the child was ordered returned to the mother.

The agency's position is that (1) relinquishment is not revocable except for fraud which requires proof of nine elements, RCW 26.32.030(2), Swanson v. Solomon, 50 Wn.2d 825, 314 P.2d 655 (1957); and (2) neither the evidence nor the findings support these elements. We disagree.

Not all forms of fraud require proof of the nine elements outlined in Swanson. We stated in In re Adoption of Hernandez, 25 Wn. App. 447, 455, 607 P.2d 879 (1980):

Fraud ... in its general sense, is deemed to comprise anything calculated to deceive, including all acts, omissions, and concealments involving a breach of legal or equitable duty, trust, or confidence justly reposed, resulting in damage to another, or by which an undue and unconscientious advantage is taken of another.
37 Am. Jur. 2d Fraud and Deceit § 1, at 19 (1963).

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Adventist Adoption & Family Services v. Perry
641 P.2d 178 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
641 P.2d 178, 31 Wash. App. 268, 1982 Wash. App. LEXIS 2520, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adventist-adoption-family-services-v-perry-washctapp-1982.