Background
M.K.B.B. (born April 2012) and K.E.A.B. (born August 2013) were removed from their biological mother’s care in 2015 after children services became involved following the birth of a third child who was addicted to drugs. After placements with their maternal grandmother and a foster home, the mother asked her children’s paternal great-aunt to care for them temporarily around Thanksgiving 2015. The children have resided with Great-Aunt since then — approximately ten years by the time this case was decided.
Great-Aunt received legal custody in January 2017, when the children were three and four years old. Mother was ordered to pay $50 per month in child support. In March 2025, Great-Aunt petitioned to adopt both children, alleging that Mother’s consent was not necessary due to her lack of contact with the children and failure to provide maintenance and support during the preceding year. Mother objected. After a bench trial and in-camera interviews with the children, the trial court found Mother’s consent was not required. Mother appealed, challenging the weight of the evidence.
The Court’s Holding
The Second District affirmed. Under R.C. 3107.07(A), a parent’s consent to adoption is not required if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the parent has failed without justifiable cause to provide maintenance and support, or to communicate with the child, for at least one year immediately preceding the filing of the adoption petition. The court found both grounds satisfied.
On the support issue, the evidence showed Mother had accumulated a child-support arrearage exceeding $10,000 and had made only sporadic, minimal payments in the relevant one-year period. On the contact issue, the evidence established that Mother had minimal communication with the children, with Great-Aunt testifying about the infrequency and unreliability of Mother’s attempts at contact. Mother argued that her financial difficulties and substance abuse issues constituted justifiable cause, but the court found these did not excuse a complete failure to maintain a meaningful relationship with her children over such an extended period.
Key Takeaways
- Under R.C. 3107.07(A), a parent’s consent to adoption may be dispensed with upon clear and convincing evidence of failure to support or communicate with the child for at least one year before the adoption petition.
- Financial hardship and substance abuse do not automatically constitute justifiable cause for failure to support or communicate; the court examines the totality of the parent’s efforts.
- A child-support arrearage exceeding $10,000, combined with minimal contact, provides strong evidence supporting a finding that consent is not required.
Why It Matters
This decision is instructive for Ohio family law practitioners handling adoption cases, particularly step-parent or relative adoptions where the biological parent’s consent is contested. It confirms that the one-year look-back period under R.C. 3107.07(A) is strictly applied and that a parent who has effectively abandoned the parental role — even if due in part to personal difficulties — may lose the right to veto the adoption. Practitioners representing petitioning adoptive parents should meticulously document the absent parent’s failures to support or communicate during the critical one-year period.