Background
B.M.M.’s two children had lived primarily with their paternal grandparents after their parents were arrested on drug-related charges. The grandparents obtained sole custody in 2022 while the mother was outside Kentucky avoiding a pending criminal action. She had not seen the children since April 2021.
In 2024, the grandparents petitioned to adopt both children without the mother’s consent under KRS 199.502. After a two-day hearing, the Logan Circuit Court found that the mother had abandoned the children and, apart from some support collected through wage garnishment, had left the grandparents entirely responsible for raising them. The court terminated her parental rights and granted the adoptions, concluding that the statutory grounds were established by clear and convincing evidence and that adoption served the children’s best interests.
The Court’s Holding
The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed. Because KRS 199.502 requires proof of only one enumerated condition, the mother’s abandonment was independently sufficient to support the adoptions. Her testimony that she partied and drank every weekend, together with her express admission that she abandoned the children when she absconded, supported the circuit court’s finding by clear and convincing evidence.
The court also upheld the best-interests determination. The circuit court considered the mother’s lack of involvement, the children’s relationship with their grandparents, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ investigation, and the guardian ad litem’s reports and recommendation. It was not required to make explicit findings on every best-interests factor listed in statutes governing other kinds of parental-rights proceedings.
Key Takeaways
- One condition under KRS 199.502(1), proven by clear and convincing evidence, is enough to support an adoption without a biological parent’s consent.
- The mother’s admission of abandonment and prolonged lack of contact supported the trial court’s finding, regardless of her claimed candor in acknowledging her conduct.
- KRS Chapter 199 does not prescribe an exhaustive best-interests checklist, and a court need not expressly address every factor borrowed from termination-of-parental-rights statutes.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces the substantial deference Kentucky appellate courts give to fact-intensive adoption and parental-rights determinations. A parent’s hope of seeking reunification later does not defeat an adoption when the record establishes abandonment and shows that adoption by established caregivers promotes the children’s best interests.