Archive

• The Rights of the Parent Who Does Not Execute a Relinquishment

  This entry was contributed by Sara DePasquale on December 8, 2022 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Adoptions.

  This blog post builds on my last post: A Guide to Relinquishments and Post-Relinquishment Review Hearings. If you remember, relinquishments involve the voluntary transfer of physical and legal custody of a minor child to an agency (a department of social services (DSS) or licensed private child-placing agency) that accepts the relinquishment for the purposes of the child’s adoption. See G.S. 48-1-101(15); 48-3-705(b). A relinquishment is executed by a parent or by a guardian of the person appointed by the clerk of superior court under a G.S. Chapter 35A proceeding.

  What happens when one parent executes a relinquishment but the other parent wants custody of their child? North Carolina statutes are silent; however, case law recognizes that the non-relinquishing parent has rights. Continue Reading

• Intestate Succession Rights and Children Born Out of Wedlock

  This entry was contributed by Meredith Smith on March 4, 2016 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Estates.

  A 21-year old unmarried man dies without a will. An application for letters of administration is filed with the clerk of superior court by his mother and father. The only persons identified on the application as entitled to share in the decedent’s estate are his mother and father. No spouse or child is listed. No property is listed on the preliminary inventory included in the application as property of the estate or property that may be added to the estate to pay claims. The only other property identified is a potential claim from wrongful death under G.S. 28A-18-2. Based upon the application and an oath/affirmation from both parents, the clerk of superior court enters an order authorizing the issuance of letters and issues letters of administration to the parents of the decedent.

  Continue Reading