Missouri Adoption Court Cases

Missouri Court Case: In re R.A.B.
Transferred from the Springfield district of the Missouri Court of Appeals after opinion, this case is decided as though on original appeal. Mo. Const., Art. V, § 10. The natural father, R.A.B., Jr., appeals from the adoption decree terminating the parental rights to his three children, ages nine, eight and six at the time of trial, and awarding them by adoption to his divorced wife (the natural mother) and her present husband, petitioners in this action. We reverse...


Missouri Court Case: Adoption of W.B.L.
This Court must sustain the decision of the trial court unless there is no substantial evidence to support its judgment, the judgment is against the weight of the evidence or erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30 (Mo. banc 1976). This standard of review on appeal is not inconsistent with the high "clear, cogent and convincing" standard of proof which Missouri law requires to be satisfied by the trial court as fact finder in termination cases...


Missouri Court Case: In the Interest of J.F.
The guardian ad litem of J. F. appeals a judgment which terminated parental rights of an alleged putative father given notice of the proceeding by publication. Appellant challenges the validity of notice by publication in this termination proceeding. Judgment affirmed. J. F. was born out of wedlock on June 27, 1985. On the day of her birth, her mother, C. F., requested Family Adoption and Counseling Services to assist her in...


Missouri Court Case: Taylor v. General Motors
In September 1983, Carrie Taylor filed suit in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis for the wrongful death of Demetria Howard. Demetria Howard died as a result of a multi-car collision which occurred in the City of St. Louis on October 4, 1980. Defendants filed motions to dismiss and a separate trial was had on the issues of whether there had been an equitable adoption of Demetria Howard by Carrie Taylor and, if so, whether...


Missouri Court Case: D.L.G. v. E.L.S.
Petition for review n1 by putative father, appellant, seeking to vacate and set aside the decree of adoption of his alleged child. The trial court dismissed the petition as barred under the one year statute of limitations of § 453.140, RSMo 1986. Appellant contends extrinsic evidence would demonstrate a lack of jurisdiction for the adoption court to enter the decree and the adoption proceeding violated his constitutional rights to due process...


Missouri Court Case: Easter v. Ochs
Cheryl Jean Easter sued to quiet title to four Missouri farms that she and her brother, Alan Ochs, claimed. When Alan later died, his heirs -- the Ochs family -- became the defendants. The circuit court granted summary judgment for Cheryl on stipulated facts. Because a state statute is alleged to violate the equal protection and full-faith-and-credit clauses...


Missouri Court Case: Herndon v. Tuhey
Cody Christopher Tuhey, age ten, descended from strong, proud stock. Cody is the son of Ann and Randy Tuhey and the grandson of Ann's parents, Robert and Sara Herndon. A neutral observer might describe his parents and grandparents as resolute, strong-willed, tenacious and persevering. A different observer, equally neutral, might describe the same characteristics as obstinate, inflexible, unyielding, and even stubborn or hardheaded. The truth is that all...


Missouri Court Case: Baby Girl Peggy
This matter involves an attempt by Respondents Michael and Becky to adopt a baby girl born July 23, 1990, at 1:24 p.m. at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center (Medical Center) in Kennett, Missouri. Appellant Peggy, the natural mother, sought to withdraw or invalidate her consent to the adoption and regain custody of the child. She filed her petition in the Circuit Court of Dunklin County, Missouri, the county where the child was born, where physical...


Missouri Court Case: In re J.F.K.
The natural father was convicted of child abuse and on November 7, 1990, his parental rights in J.F.K. were terminated. The child continued in the care of the Randles throughout the proceedings described above, until November 16, 1990. On that date two events occurred: The Randles filed a separate action in the Juvenile Division of the Ray County Circuit Court for adoption of J.F.K. as their own child, and, immediately thereafter...


Missouri Court Case: W.B. v. M.G.R.
this appeal arises from an action seeking a determination that W.B. ("Appellant") not M.G.R. ("Respondent"), is the father of M.E.R. ("Daughter"). n1 The circuit court dismissed the petition with prejudice on the ground that the suit was not timely brought under the Uniform Parentage Act, since it was initiated after the child's...


Missouri Court Case: Child Support Enforcement v. T.J.
Mother filed the petition in this case on January 31, 1996, when child was nine years old. The defendants in the suit were presumed father and putative father. The original petition was ineffective because presumed father was not a party and the issue of presumed father's paternity was not presented. The petition merely requested a declaration that putative father was the father and, in Count II, an order for child support. On April 15, 1996, the petition was amended...


Missouri Court Case: Blakely v. Blakely
Dean and Shelly Blakely (Parents) refuse to permit Dean's parents, Richard and Carol Blakely (Grandparents), to visit with their grandchildren. The circuit court entered a judgment granting Grandparents two hours of visitation every 90 days, pursuant to section 452.402, RSMo 2000 . Parents appeal, alleging that to the extent that section 452.402, on its face and as applied in this Court's decision in Herndon v. Tuhey, 857 S.W.2d 203 (1993), permits a court...

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