Father Appeals Termination of Parental Rights on Due Process Claims

To speak with an experienced probate law attorney, please contact the experienced attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. at (203) 221-3100 or at JMaya@Mayalaw.com.

In the case of In re Brendan C., parents appealed from a judgment of the Superior Court Child Protection Section that granted an application by the commissioner of children and families to terminate their parental rights under Connecticut family law. They both argued that the child should have had a separate guardian ad litem, and the father raised many issues relating to a claimed disability.

Both parents' behavioral problems led to the original neglect petition, but the father's volatile behavior, possibly due in part to a brain tumor and mild mental disabilities, made the child's living situation untenable. Connecticut law directs the court to appoint a guardian ad litem for any parent in a termination proceeding when it appears that the parent is incompetent. Although that statutory provision does not define "incompetent," the Supreme Court of Connecticut has defined a mentally incompetent person as one who is unable to understand the nature of the termination proceeding and unable to assist in the presentation of his or her case. Before a Connecticut court may grant a petition to terminate parental rights on the ground of failure to rehabilitate, it must find by clear and convincing evidence that the department of children and families has made reasonable efforts to reunite the child with the parent. "Reasonable efforts" means doing everything reasonable, not everything possible. The court's findings will be disturbed only if they are not supported by the evidence and are, in light of all the evidence in the record, clearly erroneous.

The court held, first, that the trial judge had not clearly erred in failing to appoint guardians ad litem for the child and the father. The child's expression of pleasure in his parents' short visits as contrasted with his expressed desire not to live with them did not raise such a conflict as to require a guardian separate from the child's own counsel, and the record did not reflect that the father was incompetent so as to require a guardian ad litem. Many of the constitutional issues that the father sought to raise were waived, but the court found no denial of substantive due process in the trial judge's determination from the evidence that the father's parenting deficiencies, not his other alleged disabilities, made termination proper. Case law had already determined that the father's Americans with Disabilities Act arguments were not cognizable in determining whether there had been adequate reunification efforts. The judgment of the superior court was affirmed.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to a probate law attorney about a will, trust, or estate matter, please contact the experienced attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. at (203) 221-3100 or at JMaya@Mayalaw.com.

Source: In re Brendan C., 89 Conn. App. 511, 874 A.2d 826, 2005 Conn. App. LEXIS 233 (Conn. App. Ct. 2005)